General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Purchased by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 121.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 436,692 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 239,191 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.08% of General Mills worth $30,868,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GIS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in General Mills by 16.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,298,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,219,113,000 after buying an additional 8,444,312 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 7,074,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,858,000 after buying an additional 501,717 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $377,205,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,362,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,459,000 after buying an additional 369,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,003,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,909,000 after buying an additional 235,938 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GIS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of General Mills in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on General Mills from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Barclays reduced their price objective on General Mills from $72.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.82.

General Mills Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of GIS traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $65.93. The company had a trading volume of 1,622,968 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,083,852. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $60.33 and a 1-year high of $77.08. The stock has a market cap of $36.80 billion, a PE ratio of 15.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.09. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

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

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. This is a boost from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.68%.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total transaction of $50,104.70. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,227,706.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.