General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Acquired by Westpac Banking Corp

Westpac Banking Corp lifted its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 13.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 79,781 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,451 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in General Mills were worth $4,770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GIS. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 434.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,041,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,138,473,000 after buying an additional 15,480,835 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in General Mills in the 1st quarter valued at $279,570,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in General Mills by 4,775.2% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,443,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,916,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373,338 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in General Mills by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,123,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $581,903,000 after purchasing an additional 2,341,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills in the 1st quarter valued at $92,717,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS stock opened at $49.35 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.67. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $48.59 and a one year high of $75.90. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.04, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of -0.01.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.61 dividend. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 59.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on GIS shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on 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 lowered their price target on General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 price target on General Mills and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $51.00 price target (down from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.