DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Lowers Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale cut its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 9.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 967,634 shares of the company’s stock after selling 101,224 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in General Mills were worth $67,700,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 16.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,298,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,219,113,000 after purchasing an additional 8,444,312 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $377,205,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in General Mills by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,650,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $955,118,000 after purchasing an additional 2,488,341 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 106.9% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,442,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,254,000 after buying an additional 1,778,345 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 165.6% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,049,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,381,000 after buying an additional 654,550 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on GIS shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of General Mills in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on General Mills from $71.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.82.

Insider Activity

In other General Mills news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total transaction of $50,104.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 17,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,227,706.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

GIS stock traded up $1.61 during trading on Friday, hitting $69.28. The company had a trading volume of 5,271,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,484,521. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $60.33 and a 1-year high of $75.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $65.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market cap of $38.67 billion, a PE ratio of 16.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.09.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.02. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.56% and a net margin of 12.57%. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This is a boost from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.68%.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.