McKinney Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

McKinney Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 39,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,283,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills during the second quarter worth $2,181,608,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 2.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,672,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,344,000 after acquiring an additional 143,265 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.4% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,200,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,335,000 after acquiring an additional 58,608 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in General Mills by 41.0% during the second quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,140,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,099,000 after acquiring an additional 1,203,993 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in General Mills by 30.4% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,591,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,672,000 after acquiring an additional 836,286 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, September 24th. UBS Group restated a “sell” rating on shares of General Mills in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of General Mills from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $36.24.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIS traded up $0.80 during trading on Friday, reaching $34.32. 6,681,696 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,376,291. The company’s 50 day moving average is $34.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.35 billion and a PE ratio of -20.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.17 and a 52 week high of $49.59.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 23rd. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.03. General Mills had a positive return on equity of 21.86% and a negative net margin of 4.89%. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 13th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 13th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.1%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently -146.99%.

General Mills News Roundup

These are some of the GIS news items that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: A dividend-stock comparison highlights GIS’s reported yield of roughly 7%, above Kimberly-Clark’s, which may appeal to income-focused investors—though the payout is now in question. Article: Better Dividend Stock for Retirees
• Negative Sentiment: Piper Sandler downgraded General Mills from Overweight to Neutral and cut its price target to $35 from $41. The firm warned the dividend could be reduced by as much as 35% as the company prioritizes debt reduction and growth investment. Article: General Mills’ Hefty Dividend Could Be on the Chopping Block
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage also linked the pressure on shares to the downgrade and target cut ahead of a leadership change and restructuring, adding uncertainty around the company’s turnaround. Article: What’s Going On With General Mills Stock Thursday?

About General Mills

General Mills, Inc. is a food company that develops, manufactures and markets branded consumer foods. Its products include breakfast cereals, snack bars, baking mixes and refrigerated dough, along with meals and pet food. Its brands include Cheerios, Nature Valley, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury and Blue Buffalo. The company traces its history to the Minneapolis Milling Company, established in 1866. The General Mills name was adopted in 1928 by the Washburn Crosby Company, a predecessor of today’s business.