Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Acquires 848,712 Shares of General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Key Points

• Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in General Mills by 1,824.7% in Q4, buying 848,712 shares to hold 895,225 shares (about 0.17% of the company) worth roughly $41.63 million.
• Several analysts have trimmed ratings and price targets, leaving General Mills with an average MarketBeat rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $43.44.
• General Mills recently missed quarterly EPS ($0.64 vs. $0.73) with revenue down 8.4% YoY; the stock trades near its 12‑month low and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.61 (about a 7.1% yield).

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 1,824.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 895,225 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 848,712 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. owned approximately 0.17% of General Mills worth $41,628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in General Mills by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,717,972 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,700,060,000 after buying an additional 145,701 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in General Mills by 15.9% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,956,665 shares of the company's stock valued at $494,548,000 after buying an additional 1,368,041 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in General Mills by 13.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,664,990 shares of the company's stock valued at $386,469,000 after buying an additional 883,150 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in General Mills by 22.2% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,628,421 shares of the company's stock valued at $384,625,000 after buying an additional 1,383,913 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its stake in General Mills by 0.3% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,585,110 shares of the company's stock valued at $281,601,000 after buying an additional 16,028 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered General Mills from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on General Mills from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered General Mills from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Barclays dropped their price target on General Mills from $46.00 to $43.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on General Mills from $45.00 to $37.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $43.44.

General Mills Trading Down 2.8%

Shares of GIS stock opened at $34.58 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $41.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.11. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.04 and a 12-month high of $59.21. The firm has a market cap of $18.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.45 and a beta of 0.01.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 19.19% and a net margin of 12.05%.The company's revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.1%. General Mills's payout ratio is currently 59.66%.

About General Mills

General Mills, Inc NYSE: GIS is a multinational consumer foods company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of branded food products. Its product categories include ready-to-eat and hot cereals, baking mixes and ingredients, snacks and bars, refrigerated and frozen doughs, yogurt and other dairy products, and a variety of shelf-stable meals and meal components. The company's portfolio features widely recognized consumer brands across grocery store, mass channel and foodservice outlets.

Founded in the early 20th century and incorporated under its current name in 1928, General Mills has grown through both internal brand development and strategic expansion to become a global food company.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.