Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 25,645 Shares of General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 3.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 694,478 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,645 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $35,016,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 2.7% in the second quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $409,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its position in General Mills by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. boosted its stake in General Mills by 4.2% in the third quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 5,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.3% during the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $881,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 0.7% during the second quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 32,843 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,702,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS stock opened at $48.35 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $45.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.66. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $42.78 and a 52-week high of $67.35. The stock has a market cap of $25.80 billion, a PE ratio of 10.40 and a beta of -0.06.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 17th. The company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.07. General Mills had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 13.51%.The company had revenue of $4.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. General Mills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.580-3.790 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the topic of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $54.00 price target on shares of General Mills and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $63.00 target price on shares of General Mills and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.15, for a total value of $72,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 48,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,338,549.20. This represents a 3.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Company Profile

General Mills, Inc (NYSE: GIS) is a multinational consumer foods company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of branded food products. Its product categories include ready-to-eat and hot cereals, baking mixes and ingredients, snacks and bars, refrigerated and frozen doughs, yogurt and other dairy products, and a variety of shelf-stable meals and meal components. The company’s portfolio features widely recognized consumer brands across grocery store, mass channel and foodservice outlets.

Founded in the early 20th century and incorporated under its current name in 1928, General Mills has grown through both internal brand development and strategic expansion to become a global food company.