Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $46.45 Million Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 776,809 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,289 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.14% of General Mills worth $46,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its stake in General Mills by 126.1% in the first quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 62,712 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,521,000 after buying an additional 34,973 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in General Mills in the first quarter valued at approximately $402,000. Kanawha Capital Management LLC raised its stake in General Mills by 17.1% in the first quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 3,704 shares of the company's stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 542 shares during the period. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new stake in General Mills in the first quarter valued at approximately $152,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in General Mills by 25.7% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 110,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,609,000 after buying an additional 22,626 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Mills Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of GIS opened at $53.13 on Monday. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $50.19 and a 52-week high of $75.90. The business's fifty day moving average is $53.93 and its 200-day moving average is $57.83. 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 cap of $28.82 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. General Mills had a return on equity of 24.88% and a net margin of 11.78%. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This is an increase from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.59%. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GIS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 price objective on General Mills and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered General Mills from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.73.

General Mills 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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