Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Raises Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 49.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,927 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,960 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in General Mills were worth $375,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in General Mills by 16.3% in the 1st 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 period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in General Mills by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,650,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $955,118,000 after purchasing an additional 2,488,341 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in General Mills by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 7,074,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $460,858,000 after purchasing an additional 501,717 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,413,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,478,000 after buying an additional 148,235 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of General Mills by 7.4% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,362,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $376,459,000 after buying an additional 369,628 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE GIS opened at $74.99 on Thursday. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $60.33 and a one year high of $75.90. The firm has a market cap of $41.86 billion, a PE ratio of 17.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $69.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.65.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.56% and a net margin of 12.57%. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. This is a positive change from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is 55.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GIS shares. Mizuho decreased 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. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of General Mills in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays lowered their price objective on General Mills from $72.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, 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.