Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Grows Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 1,824.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 895,225 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 848,712 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $41,628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of GIS. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the second quarter worth about $84,862,000. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in General Mills by 82.8% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 3,415,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,226,000 after purchasing an additional 1,546,993 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in General Mills by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,628,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $384,625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383,913 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in General Mills by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,956,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $494,548,000 after purchasing an additional 1,368,041 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in General Mills by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,664,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $386,469,000 after purchasing an additional 883,150 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Down 2.8%

GIS stock opened at $34.58 on Tuesday. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.04 and a fifty-two week high of $59.21. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $41.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $18.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.45 and a beta of 0.01.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.09). General Mills had a return on equity of 19.19% and a net margin of 12.05%.The firm had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.1%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 59.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GIS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on General Mills from $42.00 to $36.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on General Mills from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Evercore set a $45.00 price target on General Mills in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group reduced their price target on General Mills from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, BTIG Research started coverage on General Mills in a report on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Mills has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $43.44.

General Mills Profile

General Mills, Inc (NYSE: GIS) is a multinational consumer foods company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of branded food products. Its product categories include ready-to-eat and hot cereals, baking mixes and ingredients, snacks and bars, refrigerated and frozen doughs, yogurt and other dairy products, and a variety of shelf-stable meals and meal components. The company’s portfolio features widely recognized consumer brands across grocery store, mass channel and foodservice outlets.

Founded in the early 20th century and incorporated under its current name in 1928, General Mills has grown through both internal brand development and strategic expansion to become a global food company.