General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Purchased by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,829,545 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,961 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.33% of General Mills worth $115,881,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GIS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,298,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,219,113,000 after acquiring an additional 8,444,312 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,650,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $955,118,000 after acquiring an additional 2,488,341 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 100.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,728,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,138,000 after acquiring an additional 2,368,563 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 6,140.4% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 945,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,807,000 after acquiring an additional 930,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 1st quarter valued at $36,177,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Up 0.7 %

GIS stock opened at $74.99 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.38. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.33 and a 52-week high of $75.90. The company has a 50-day moving average of $69.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.10.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.02. General Mills had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 26.56%. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GIS shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on General Mills from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Mizuho reduced their target price on General Mills from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Barclays reduced their target price on General Mills from $72.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of General Mills in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, June 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.60.

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.