1,550,713 Shares in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Bought by Nuveen LLC

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC has acquired a new position in General Mills, Inc., purchasing approximately 1.55 million shares valued at around $92.72 million, representing 0.28% of the company.
• General Mills recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.61 per share, up from the previous $0.60, which equates to an annual yield of 5.0%.
• The company's stock has been rated with a consensus of “Hold”, with the current price target averaging around $59.73 according to several equities research analysts.

Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,550,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $92,717,000. Nuveen LLC owned 0.28% of General Mills at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in General Mills by 434.8% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,041,194 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,138,473,000 after purchasing an additional 15,480,835 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,123,387 shares of the company's stock valued at $581,903,000 after acquiring an additional 2,341,137 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,061,793 shares of the company's stock valued at $514,101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253,483 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,846,576 shares of the company's stock valued at $436,606,000 after acquiring an additional 561,731 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,403,879 shares of the company's stock valued at $382,888,000 after acquiring an additional 414,768 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GIS. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their target price for the company from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group cut their target price on General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Barclays cut their target price on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 target price on General Mills and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.73.

General Mills Stock Down 0.0%

General Mills stock traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $49.65. The stock had a trading volume of 6,919,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,226,817. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.67. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.59 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $51.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.93 billion, a PE ratio of 12.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of -0.01.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.02. General Mills had a return on equity of 24.88% and a net margin of 11.78%. The firm had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This is a positive change from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. General Mills's payout ratio is presently 59.51%.

General Mills Company Profile

General Mills, Inc manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates through four segments: North America Retail; International; Pet; and North America Foodservice. It offers grain, ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and savory snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, unbaked and fully baked frozen dough products, frozen hot snacks, ethnic meals, side dish mixes, frozen breakfast and entrees, nutrition bars, and frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.