Westpac Banking Corp Takes $1.27 Million Position in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Westpac Banking Corp bought a new position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 36,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,272,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in General Mills during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,181,608,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in General Mills by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,717,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,700,060,000 after buying an additional 145,701 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,697,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $915,953,000 after buying an additional 488,617 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,197,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $704,170,000 after buying an additional 172,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,837,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $457,443,000 after buying an additional 200,043 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS stock opened at $39.99 on Friday. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.75 and a 1 year high of $51.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $36.64 and its 200-day moving average is $37.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -222.15 and a beta of -0.03.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 1st. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.15. General Mills had a negative net margin of 0.48% and a positive return on equity of 21.37%. The business had revenue of $4.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. General Mills has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.000-3.200 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1,355.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on GIS shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on General Mills from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings raised General Mills from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on General Mills from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on General Mills from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on General Mills from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $39.16.

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.