Pacer Advisors Inc. Purchases 3,373,338 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. significantly increased its stake in General Mills by 4,775.2%, acquiring 3,373,338 shares to bring its total holdings to approximately 3.44 million shares, valued at $205.9 million.
• General Mills has faced a downgrade from several analysts, with Goldman Sachs reducing its rating from "buy" to "neutral" and lowering the price target from $68 to $58.
• The company recently announced a dividend increase, with a quarterly payout of $0.61 per share, up from $0.60, representing an annual yield of 4.78%.

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 4,775.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,443,981 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,373,338 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.62% of General Mills worth $205,916,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Perpetual Ltd lifted its stake in General Mills by 3.5% in the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 5,411 shares of the company's stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Conning Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 4.6% in the first 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 stake in shares of General Mills by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 6,071 shares of the company's stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Security National Bank of SO Dak lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Security National Bank of SO Dak now owns 31,290 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,995,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canopy Partners LLC boosted its holdings in General Mills by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the company's stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on GIS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 target price on shares of General Mills and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $51.00 price target (down previously from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of General Mills from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.73.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS stock opened at $51.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.67 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.44. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $52.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.68. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.04 and a 52-week high of $75.90.

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

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This is a boost from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.78%. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is 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.

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