First Trust Advisors LP Boosts Holdings in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 30.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,591,408 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 836,286 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.67% of General Mills worth $133,672,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GIS. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in General Mills by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,717,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,700,060,000 after buying an additional 145,701 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,697,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $915,953,000 after acquiring an additional 488,617 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,197,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $704,170,000 after acquiring an additional 172,200 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of General Mills by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,837,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $457,443,000 after acquiring an additional 200,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of General Mills by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,780,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $408,291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,115,465 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.27, for a total value of $342,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 86,002 shares in the company, valued at $2,947,288.54. This trade represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ricardo Fernandez sold 7,995 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.50, for a total value of $275,827.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 62,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,148,763.50. The trade was a 11.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GIS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on General Mills from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on General Mills from $45.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on General Mills from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of General Mills from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and seven have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Mills has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $39.16.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $35.64 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $34.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.74. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.75 and a 52-week high of $51.36. The company has a market cap of $19.02 billion, a PE ratio of -198.01 and a beta of -0.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 1st. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.15. General Mills had a negative net margin of 0.48% and a positive return on equity of 21.37%. The company had revenue of $4.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. General Mills has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.000-3.200 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently -1,355.56%.

About General Mills

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.