Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Raises Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,351,735 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 509,268 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in General Mills were worth $405,035,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $496,484,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 64.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $497,054,000 after buying an additional 3,058,414 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in General Mills by 105.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,552,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926,232 shares during the last quarter. Nepsis Inc. grew its holdings in General Mills by 3,504.8% during the 4th quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 2,164,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,023,000 after acquiring an additional 2,104,353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of General Mills by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,630,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,376,573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,868,508 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,967,490. This represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on GIS shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of General Mills in a research report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $53.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $84.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.69.

General Mills Price Performance

General Mills stock opened at $57.52 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $59.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.15 and a 12-month high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.17%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.75%.

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.