Swiss National Bank Cuts Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Swiss National Bank decreased its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 0.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,554,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,600 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in General Mills were worth $92,956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in General Mills by 434.8% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,041,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,138,473,000 after purchasing an additional 15,480,835 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in General Mills in the first quarter valued at approximately $279,570,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in General Mills by 4,775.2% in the first 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 during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in General Mills by 34.5% in the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of General Mills by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,061,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $514,101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253,483 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS stock opened at $49.80 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $51.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.90. The company has a market cap of $27.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.15, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of -0.01. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.59 and a 12 month high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business 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 boost from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 59.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GIS. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded General Mills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 3rd. Barclays decreased their target price on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 target price on General Mills and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.