Cardinal Capital Management Grows Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Cardinal Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 103,676 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the quarter. General Mills comprises approximately 1.6% of Cardinal Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Cardinal Capital Management’s holdings in General Mills were worth $7,952,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GIS. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its position in General Mills by 4.8% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 22,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,492,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in General Mills by 45.3% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 1,828 shares in the last quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. raised its position in General Mills by 2.1% in the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 73,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,955,000 after acquiring an additional 1,503 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in General Mills by 2.3% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 279,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,935,000 after purchasing an additional 6,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in General Mills by 15.3% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on GIS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on General Mills from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on General Mills from $82.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on General Mills from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on General Mills from $77.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, June 29th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered General Mills from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, September 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.11.

General Mills Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $66.10 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $71.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.46. The firm has a market cap of $38.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $64.70 and a 12-month high of $90.89.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 28th. The company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 24.47% and a net margin of 12.91%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.48 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 10th were issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 7th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.76%.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.