Virtu Financial LLC Has $2.81 Million Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Key Points

• Virtu Financial LLC increased its stake in General Mills, Inc. by 35.6%, holding shares worth approximately $2.81 million as of the end of the most recent quarter.
• General Mills has seen mixed actions from analysts, with price targets being lowered by multiple firms while still holding a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average price target of $59.73.
• Recently, General Mills announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.61 per share, reflecting a strong annualized yield of 4.9% on its stock.

Virtu Financial LLC raised its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 35.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,072 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,351 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC's holdings in General Mills were worth $2,814,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 641,045 shares of the company's stock worth $40,879,000 after buying an additional 50,987 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in General Mills by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,858,595 shares of the company's stock worth $118,523,000 after acquiring an additional 153,825 shares during the period. FIL Ltd increased its position in General Mills by 91.4% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 10,279 shares of the company's stock worth $655,000 after acquiring an additional 4,909 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $27,609,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC increased its position in General Mills by 47.5% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 36,032 shares of the company's stock worth $2,298,000 after acquiring an additional 11,598 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:GIS traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $49.22. 6,276,646 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,285,617. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.75. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.59 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.00, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of -0.01.

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

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. This is a boost from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is 59.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on GIS. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 target price on shares of General Mills and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $67.00 to $63.00 in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.