General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Stock to Pay Quarterly Dividend of $0.61

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share on Monday, November 2nd. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 13th.

General Mills has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 5 consecutive years. General Mills has a dividend payout ratio of 58.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect General Mills to earn $3.21 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 76.0%.

General Mills Stock Up 0.6%

GIS opened at $33.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of -0.01. General Mills has a one year low of $31.75 and a one year high of $51.26. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $37.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 23rd. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 positive return on equity of 21.86% and a negative net margin of 4.89%.The firm’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that General Mills will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GIS. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new stake in General Mills in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 139.8% in the 4th quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 578 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Main Street Group LTD bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About General Mills

General Mills, Inc is a global food company that manufactures and markets branded consumer foods. Its products include cereal, snack bars, refrigerated dough, baking mixes, yogurt, soup, meals, frozen foods, and pet food, serving retail, foodservice, and pet channels.

The company’s portfolio includes well-known brands such as Cheerios, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Nature Valley, Yoplait, Häagen-Dazs, Old El Paso, Progresso, Totino’s, Annie’s, and Blue Buffalo. General Mills sells its products primarily in the United States and also serves consumers in international markets across multiple regions.

General Mills traces its history to the Minneapolis Milling Company, established in 1856, and adopted the General Mills name following a 1928 combination of several milling businesses.