Plato Investment Management Ltd Acquires 1,768 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,395 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,768 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,860,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its stake in General Mills by 41.8% in the second quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 36,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,309,000 after buying an additional 10,765 shares in the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $1,171,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its position in General Mills by 5.8% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 688,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,177,000 after purchasing an additional 38,021 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in General Mills by 16.1% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 696,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,711,000 after purchasing an additional 96,712 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA grew its stake in General Mills by 164.1% in the fourth quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA now owns 18,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,307,000 after purchasing an additional 11,298 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on GIS shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Citigroup reduced their price target on General Mills from $71.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on General Mills from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.07.

General Mills Stock Up 1.0 %

General Mills stock opened at $73.71 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $41.14 billion, a PE ratio of 17.10, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.10. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $60.33 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.02. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.56% and a net margin of 12.57%. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. This is a positive change from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.68%.

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.