Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Has $54.61 Million Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 20.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 913,290 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 156,280 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned 0.17% of General Mills worth $54,606,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in General Mills by 434.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,041,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,138,473,000 after buying an additional 15,480,835 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in General Mills during the 1st quarter worth $279,570,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in General Mills by 4,775.2% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,443,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,916,000 after buying an additional 3,373,338 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in General Mills by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,123,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $581,903,000 after buying an additional 2,341,137 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills during the 1st quarter worth $92,717,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

GIS opened at $49.68 on Friday. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.59 and a 52-week high of $75.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.95 billion, a PE ratio of 12.12, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of -0.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.67. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.62.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.02. General Mills had a return on equity of 24.88% and a net margin of 11.78%. The business had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. General Mills’s revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This is a boost from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on GIS. Barclays dropped their price objective on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised General Mills from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded General Mills from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen raised General Mills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 price target on General Mills and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.73.

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.