Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Has $35.17 Million Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Key Points

• Zurcher Kantonalbank increased its stake in General Mills, Inc. by 3.2%, owning a total of 588,267 shares valued at approximately $35.17 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, up from the previous dividend of $0.60, reflecting a 4.77% yield.
• General Mills recently reported earnings of $0.74 per share, beating analysts' expectations, but its revenue declined 3.3% year-over-year.

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 588,267 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 18,210 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned about 0.11% of General Mills worth $35,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Perkins Coie Trust Co boosted its position in General Mills by 69.2% during the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 516 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its stake in General Mills by 1,096.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 598 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 548 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GIS shares. Barclays cut their target price on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $51.00 price objective (down previously from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.73.

General Mills Trading Down 2.3%

General Mills stock traded down $1.20 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $49.87. The stock had a trading volume of 5,919,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,684,597. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.04 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $27.05 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.16. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $52.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.50.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.60 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 24.88% and a net margin of 11.78%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This is a positive change from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.89%. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.51%.

About General Mills

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.