MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB Boosts Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 40.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,524 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 725 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB’s holdings in General Mills were worth $131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in General Mills by 434.8% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 8.1% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,864,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $589,814,000 after purchasing an additional 741,432 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 4.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 7,161,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $428,213,000 after purchasing an additional 315,375 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in General Mills by 10.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,986,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $417,674,000 after acquiring an additional 634,393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in General Mills by 6.9% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,403,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,888,000 after acquiring an additional 414,768 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GIS shares. UBS Group reduced their target price on General Mills from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut General Mills from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Bank of America reduced their target price on General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock 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 Saturday, September 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised General Mills from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.13.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $50.41 on Friday. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.29 and a 12 month high of $75.33. The stock has a market cap of $26.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.53, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of -0.02. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $49.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.04. General Mills had a return on equity of 23.46% and a net margin of 15.24%.The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.07 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This is a positive change from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.51%.

About General Mills

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.