Oxbow Advisors LLC Acquires 47,632 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Oxbow Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 576.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 55,892 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 47,632 shares during the quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC's holdings in General Mills were worth $3,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in General Mills by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 834,417 shares of the company's stock worth $53,211,000 after purchasing an additional 85,612 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 484,550 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,900,000 after acquiring an additional 46,536 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted 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 last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43,114 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,749,000 after acquiring an additional 5,853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $486,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on GIS. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Mizuho lowered their target price on General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $51.00 price target (down from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 price target on General Mills and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $59.73.

General Mills Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE:GIS opened at $51.60 on Friday. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.86 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The company has a market cap of $27.99 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.59. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38.

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

General Mills Increases Dividend

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

About General Mills

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.

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