General Mills, Inc. $GIS Stock: Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Reduces Stake

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd decreased its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 30.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,033 shares of the company’s stock after selling 34,280 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in General Mills were worth $2,542,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in General Mills in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,181,608,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in General Mills by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,672,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,344,000 after acquiring an additional 143,265 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in General Mills by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,200,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,335,000 after acquiring an additional 58,608 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in General Mills by 41.0% during the 2nd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,140,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,099,000 after purchasing an additional 1,203,993 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in General Mills during the 2nd quarter valued at $129,298,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on GIS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on General Mills from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on General Mills from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $34.00 price target (up from $33.00) on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $36.59.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS stock opened at $35.15 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $36.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.55. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.17 and a 52 week high of $49.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.80 billion, a PE ratio of -21.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.03.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 23rd. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.35 billion. General Mills had a negative net margin of 4.89% and a positive return on equity of 21.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be given a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 13th. General Mills’s payout ratio is -146.99%.

About General Mills

General Mills, Inc is a global food company that manufactures and markets branded consumer foods. Its portfolio includes cereal, snack foods, refrigerated and baking products, yogurt, soup, meals, and pet food. The company’s brands include Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Nature Valley, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Yoplait, Old El Paso, Progresso, Annie’s, Totino’s, Häagen-Dazs, and Blue Buffalo.

General Mills sells products through grocery stores, mass merchandisers, convenience stores, e-commerce channels, restaurants, and other foodservice outlets.