Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 148,235 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,413,585 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 148,235 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.97% of General Mills worth $342,478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GIS. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in shares of General Mills by 1.4% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 10,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $719,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its holdings in General Mills by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 17,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,205,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its position in General Mills by 4.9% in the second quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 40.6% during the 1st quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC raised its position in General Mills by 5.0% in the second quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 3,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Price Performance

NYSE:GIS opened at $74.63 on Tuesday. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $60.33 and a 12-month high of $75.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $68.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.28. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.02. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.56% and a net margin of 12.57%. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. General Mills’s payout ratio is presently 55.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on GIS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on General Mills from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of General Mills in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.60.

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.