MQS Management LLC Acquires Shares of 8,973 General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

MQS Management LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 8,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $568,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of GIS. Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 199.3% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in General Mills by 409.8% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC boosted its stake in General Mills by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 458 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 66.3% in the 1st quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 769.2% in the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 452 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Citigroup upped their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of General Mills in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Mills currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.60.

General Mills Price Performance

General Mills stock opened at $74.99 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $69.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.40. The firm has a market cap of $41.86 billion, a PE ratio of 17.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.10. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.33 and a 52-week high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.56% and a net margin of 12.57%. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.80 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.09 earnings per share. General Mills’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 55.68%.

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 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.