General Mills, Inc. $GIS Stock: Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Trims Position

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lowered its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 30.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 79,033 shares of the company’s stock after selling 34,280 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in General Mills were worth $2,542,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in General Mills in the second quarter worth $2,181,608,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in General Mills by 2.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,672,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,344,000 after purchasing an additional 143,265 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in General Mills by 1.4% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,200,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,335,000 after purchasing an additional 58,608 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in General Mills by 41.0% during the second quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,140,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,099,000 after buying an additional 1,203,993 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in General Mills by 30.4% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,591,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,672,000 after buying an additional 836,286 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

General Mills stock opened at $35.15 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $18.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.18, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $36.03 and its 200 day moving average is $35.55. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $31.17 and a twelve month high of $49.59.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 23rd. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.35 billion. General Mills had a positive return on equity of 21.86% and a negative net margin of 4.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 13th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently -146.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of General Mills from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of General Mills in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of General Mills from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of General Mills from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of General Mills from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Four equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $36.59.

General Mills Profile

General Mills, Inc is a global food company that manufactures and markets branded consumer foods. Its portfolio includes cereal, snack foods, refrigerated and baking products, yogurt, soup, meals, and pet food. The company’s brands include Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Nature Valley, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Yoplait, Old El Paso, Progresso, Annie’s, Totino’s, Häagen-Dazs, and Blue Buffalo.

General Mills sells products through grocery stores, mass merchandisers, convenience stores, e-commerce channels, restaurants, and other foodservice outlets.