Value Partners Investments Inc. Acquires New Shares in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Value Partners Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 59,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,532,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Perkins Coie Trust Co boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 69.2% in the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 516 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.50.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $50.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,005,253 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,616,611. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.02. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $50.20 and a 1-year 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 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 firm 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 business posted $1.01 EPS. General Mills's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict 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 paid a $0.61 dividend. This is an increase from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.83%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.75%.

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.