Night Squared LP Acquires New Holdings in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Night Squared LP bought a new stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 178,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,980,000. General Mills makes up 3.2% of Night Squared LP’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. North Star Investment Management Corp. increased its holdings in General Mills by 255.8% in the 3rd quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 59,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,015,000 after purchasing an additional 42,986 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills during the second quarter valued at about $417,508,000. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 7.7% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 346,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,445,000 after purchasing an additional 24,688 shares during the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 161.9% during the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 333,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,800,000 after purchasing an additional 205,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 22.2% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,628,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $384,625,000 after buying an additional 1,383,913 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Key General Mills News

Here are the key news stories impacting General Mills this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Named Jonathan Ness as Chief Supply Chain Officer and accelerated removal of certified colors in its K–12 portfolio — a move that could improve execution, margin recovery and brand positioning if cost-savings and premiumization follow. Does General Mills’ (GIS) Supply Chain Shift and Cleaner Labels Recast Its Margin Narrative?
• Neutral Sentiment: Pre-earnings coverage is digging beyond revenue/EPS to metrics investors care about (gross margin, organic sales, pricing/volume mix, working capital) ahead of the Q3 print. Watch margins and SG&A cadence. Countdown to General Mills (GIS) Q3 Earnings: A Look at Estimates Beyond Revenue and EPS
• Neutral Sentiment: Another analyst preview (Zacks) reiterates the same focus on operational metrics and margin drivers for the quarter — useful guidance but not market-moving by itself. Countdown to General Mills (GIS) Q3 Earnings: A Look at Estimates Beyond Revenue and EPS (Zacks)
• Neutral Sentiment: General market pieces on high-yield names (Fool) do not feature GIS specifically but underscore investor appetite for yield — relevant context given concerns about GIS’s payout ratio. Here Are My Top 3 High-Yield Dividend Stocks to Buy Now
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo downgraded General Mills to Underweight, flagging earnings pressure, elevated leverage and a stretched dividend payout ratio — a direct catalyst behind the stock weakness. Wells Fargo downgrades General Mills (GIS)
• Negative Sentiment: Related Wells Fargo note cited across outlets downgrading Conagra, Campbell’s and General Mills for similar profit and payout risks — broad analyst skepticism for the packaged-food group. Wells Fargo downgrades Conagra, Campbell’s and General Mills on profit risks
• Negative Sentiment: Benzinga and other outlets note additional analyst downgrades and a tilt toward bearish coverage on GIS — reinforcing the negative momentum among sell-side shops. This General Mills Analyst Turns Bearish; Here Are Top 5 Downgrades For Thursday
• Negative Sentiment: Peer weakness: Campbell’s reported a weak quarter (sales down, organic sales down), highlighting consumption pressure in the category — negative signal for pricing/volume prospects across packaged foods. Campbell’s posts one of worst quarters in years: revenues fell 5%, organic sales dropped 3%

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,500 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.15, for a total transaction of $72,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 48,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,338,549.20. This trade represents a 3.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Mills Price Performance

General Mills stock opened at $39.38 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $44.98 and its 200 day moving average is $47.03. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $39.29 and a one year high of $62.61. The firm has a market cap of $21.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.47 and a beta of -0.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its 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 net margin of 13.51% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The business had revenue of $4.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. General Mills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.580-3.790 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.2%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 52.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $52.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of General Mills from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $49.11.

General Mills 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.