Hsbc Holdings PLC Grows Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,921,255 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 115,221 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.35% of General Mills worth $122,212,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Price Performance

General Mills stock opened at $58.08 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.66. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.15 and a 52 week high of $75.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.02 billion, a PE ratio of 12.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. General Mills’s revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on GIS. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $84.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $53.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, General Mills presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.69.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,967,490. The trade was a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

About General Mills

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.