W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. Buys New Shares in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Key Points

• W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. purchased 15,105 shares of General Mills, valued at approximately $903,000, in the first quarter.
• General Mills reported $0.74 earnings per share, surpassing expectations, but experienced a 3.3% decline in revenue year-over-year.
• The company recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.60 to $0.61, resulting in a 5.0% yield.

W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. bought a new stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 15,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $903,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Perpetual Ltd grew its position in General Mills by 3.5% in the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 5,411 shares of the company's stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. grew its position in General Mills by 4.6% in the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 4,212 shares of the company's stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank grew its position in General Mills by 0.8% in the first quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 24,817 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,484,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. SPC Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of General Mills by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 13,452 shares of the company's stock valued at $804,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, City Center Advisors LLC grew its position 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 period. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $48.94 on Monday. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.59 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of -0.01.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. The business's revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GIS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of General Mills from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday. Finally, 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.73.

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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