King Luther Capital Management Corp Grows Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 126,135 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 691 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in General Mills were worth $7,979,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in General Mills by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,298,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,219,113,000 after buying an additional 8,444,312 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 22.3% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,650,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $955,118,000 after acquiring an additional 2,488,341 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 7,074,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $460,858,000 after acquiring an additional 501,717 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of General Mills by 2.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,413,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,478,000 after purchasing an additional 148,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 369,628 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $74.51 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $41.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $69.92 and its 200 day moving average is $68.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $60.33 and a 1-year high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. General Mills had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 26.56%. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.09 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a boost 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 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on General Mills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on General Mills from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.73.

General Mills Company 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.