J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Raises Position in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 171.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,684 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,667 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in General Mills were worth $3,287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Mills in the second quarter valued at $84,862,000. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in General Mills by 82.8% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 3,415,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,226,000 after buying an additional 1,546,993 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in General Mills by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,628,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $384,625,000 after buying an additional 1,383,913 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in General Mills by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,956,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $494,548,000 after buying an additional 1,368,041 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 67.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,213,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,682,000 after acquiring an additional 894,633 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Bank of America lowered shares of General Mills from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $46.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $43.56.

General Mills Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE GIS opened at $37.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12 and a beta of -0.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.56. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $35.63 and a one year high of $62.61. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $43.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.95.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.09). General Mills had a return on equity of 19.19% and a net margin of 12.05%.The business had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 59.66%.

General Mills Company Profile

General Mills, Inc (NYSE: GIS) is a multinational consumer foods company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of branded food products. Its product categories include ready-to-eat and hot cereals, baking mixes and ingredients, snacks and bars, refrigerated and frozen doughs, yogurt and other dairy products, and a variety of shelf-stable meals and meal components. The company’s portfolio features widely recognized consumer brands across grocery store, mass channel and foodservice outlets.

Founded in the early 20th century and incorporated under its current name in 1928, General Mills has grown through both internal brand development and strategic expansion to become a global food company.