Our extensive database, which covers the latest moves of the largest hedge funds, allows us to draw conclusions about the general sentiment of fund managers regarding selected stocks. As of March 31, 24 funds owned equity stakes in General Mills Inc (NYSE:GIS), valued at $423.29 million in their portfolios, which was up by 26.46% compared to the end of the last quarter of 2014. The money managers seems to be less optimistic regarding the bright future of Kellogg Company (NYSE:K), since they slashed their holdings in the company by 7.87%, leaving some $434.67 million in shares. Fund ownership also declined to 18 from 23 during the first quarter. Based on this information, we can say that in general hedge funds are more in favor of General Mills, though their ownership is relatively low overall for such large-cap stocks.
Richard S. Pzena’s Pzena Investment Management added 6% to its position in Kellogg Company (NYSE:K), becoming the top shareholder in our database with 1.68 million shares valued at $110.65 million. Joel Greenblatt, managing Gotham Asset Management, owns a $72.88 million position in the stock, or some 1.11 million shares. His bet on Kellogg Company was increased by 155% over the first three months of the year. To join its colleagues, the third-largest shareholder, Winton Capital Management, added an additional 55% to its own stake, lifting the total amount of shares in its portfolio to 985,423 shares valued at $63.61 million. The other hedge funds in the list of top ten shareholders, except for one, were positive on the stock during the first three months of the year.
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As for General Mills Inc (NYSE:GIS), its largest owner, Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors reduced its holding by only 2%, which looks like a small re-balancing move rather than any real pessimism, leaving 2.53 million shares valued at $142.96 million in its portfolio. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group dramatically increased its ownership by 794%, bringing the total position to 1.82 million shares valued at $103.11 million. In general, the top ten owners showed positive dynamics, with a minor exception for two funds which made small adjustments to their position.
The final decision about the stock does not leave many chances to Kellogg Company (NYSE:K). We have seen that these days General Mills Inc (NYSE:GIS) is better by many characteristics including better dividend history, valuations, profitability, and the sentiments of the best fund managers in the world. Therefore, our conclusion for this pair of breakfast specialists would be dip your spoon into the shares of General Mills Inc (NYSE:GIS).
Winner: General Mills Inc (NYSE:GIS)
Disclosure: None
