OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Acquires 431,693 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 126.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 774,134 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 431,693 shares during the quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd owned about 0.14% of General Mills worth $46,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Perpetual Ltd raised its holdings in General Mills by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 5,411 shares of the company's stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 4,212 shares of the company's stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. City Center Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 6,071 shares of the company's stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Security National Bank of SO Dak lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Security National Bank of SO Dak now owns 31,290 shares of the company's stock worth $1,995,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Canopy Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the company's stock worth $332,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Stock Up 0.5%

General Mills stock opened at $51.60 on Monday. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.86 and a 1-year high of $75.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.99 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.41.

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

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.73%. This is a boost from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. General Mills's payout ratio is currently 59.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GIS. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Barclays reduced their price target on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $59.73.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GIS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.