General Mills posts
FeedPosted Apr 4th 2011 4:00PM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: General Mills (GIS), Stocks to Buy

The stock of food giant General Mills (
GIS), first discussed here on April 8, 2009 split-adjust price of $25.40 ($50.80 per-split), has exhibited side-ways action during the past five months, but just look on that pause as a chance to scoop-up some shares of a premiere U.S. company.
Moreover, the reasons for the bullish view here are obvious enough. Demonstrated business model General Mills boasts solid brands (Cheerios, Wheaties, Lucky Charms, Total, and Chex), good cash flow, economies of scale, and room for international expansion. Add productivity gains, demonstrated marketing skill, and a solid, split-adjust $1.12 annual dividend and GIS is one play that's hard to pass up.
Further, look for GIS's 2011 revenue to increase 3-4%, followed by a 1-3% rise in 2012, bolstered by the U.S.'s 'frugal consumer trend.' In the states, with budgets pinched, eating out is 'out,' and eating in is 'in,' which is good news for General Mills.
Continue reading General Mills: Breakfast-at-Home Play
Posted Mar 20th 2011 12:30PM by Trey Thoelcke (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Tiffany and Co (TIF), Oracle Corp (ORCL), Economic Data, Housing
Quarterly reports from Oracle (ORCL), Discover (DFS) and Tiffany (TIF) will highlight news on the earnings front this week.
Elsewhere on the economic calendar, the focus will be on housing, with existing home sales data due from the National Association of Realtors on Monday, new home sales numbers from the Census Bureau on Wednesday and data on housing starts released on Thursday.
Also watch for durable goods orders in February and the final GDP for the fourth quarter.
Continue reading Week in Preview: Housing Data and Late Season Earnings (ORCL, DFS, TIF)
Posted Mar 18th 2011 9:00AM by Connie Madon (RSS feed)
Filed under: Deals, General Mills (GIS), Commodities, Agriculture
General Mills (GIS) is buying a 50% stake in Yoplait from PAI Partners for roughly $1.1 billion, Reuters reported Thursday, citing sources close to the deal.
The deal is a nice fit for both companies. Yoplait is second to Danone (DANOY) in the yogurt market. General Mills has the industry presence to promote the Yoplait brand, something that would benefit PAI.
For General Mills, Yoplait would add an another revenue stream to an already diversified conglomerate. Some of General Mills' products include cereals, Haagen-Dazs ice cream, Green Giant vegetables and Progresso soup. The company has already been distributing Yoplait for 30 years, so the distribution network is already in place.
Continue reading General Mills Likes Yoplait So Much It's Buying 50% of the Company
Posted Feb 4th 2011 3:00PM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: General Mills (GIS), Stocks to Buy
Food giant General Mills (GIS), first discussed here on April 8, 2009, at a split-adjust price of $25.40 ($50.80 pre-split), has meandered during the past three months, but just look on that pause as a chance to scoop-up some shares of a premiere U.S. company.
And the reasons for the bullish view here are obvious enough. Demonstrated business model General Mills boasts solid brands (Cheerios, Wheaties, Lucky Charms, Total and Chex), good cash flow, economies of scale, and room for international expansion. Add productivity gain, marketing skill and a solid, split-adjust $1.12 annual dividend and GIS is one play that's hard to pass up.
Continue reading Consider General Mills, Because Breakfast-In Is Still 'In'
Posted Nov 11th 2010 3:30PM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: General Mills (GIS), Stocks to Buy
After a summer stock dip, food giant General Mills (GIS), first discussed here on April 8, 2009, split-adjust price of $25.40 ($50.80 per-split), is reasserting itself, and with good reason.
General Mills boasts solid brands (Cheerios, Wheaties, Lucky Charms, Total and Chex), good cash flow, economies of scale, and room for international expansion. Add productivity gains, demonstrated marketing skill, and a solid, split-adjust $1.12 annual dividend and GIS is one play that's hard to pass up.
Continue reading General Mills: U.S. Frugal Consumer Play
Posted Sep 25th 2010 8:40AM by Paul Foster (RSS feed)
Filed under: General Mills (GIS), Options
General Mills (GIS) option was active on call volume of 88K contracts, compared to put volume of 8K contracts. October put option implied volatility is at 28, January is at 25, above its 26-week average of 21, according to Track Data. The active call volume suggests traders taking positions for price movement.
Stocks with implied volatility below index mean range: Genzyme (GENZ), Potash (POT) and Chelsea Therapeutic (CHTP), according to IVolatility.
Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.
Posted Aug 16th 2010 1:30PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Getting Started, McDonald's (MCD), International Business Machines (IBM), Diageo plc (DEO), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), Altria Group (MO), Novartis AG ADS (NVS), Automatic Data Proc (ADP), Kellogg Co (K), Consolidated Edison (ED), General Mills (GIS), Procter and Gamble (PG), Merck and Co (MRK), Duke Energy (DUK), Chasing Value™, Stocks to Buy, Southern Company (SO), Annaly Capital Management (NLY)
Here is a common sentiment about the stock market: "No fun at all. As I have said before, I believe it has turned into one big casino largely divorced from its original goal of providing capital to companies who produce something of value."
There's a lot of truth to what "granny" recently said to me in an e-mail. Fortunately she also noted "FYI Granny's up 5.86% + dividends." That would give her a gain of about 10% in the past ten months since I posted Where should granny put $50,000, suggesting a very conservative portfolio for an uncertain time.
Not only has she earned a very nice return, surpassing her CD account by 9.5% (20 fold), but she was able to do so with a great deal less volatility than the overall market most of us have lived through.
Continue reading Chasing Value: Granny Said, 'It Has Turned into One Big Casino'
Posted Jun 30th 2010 4:10PM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Kellogg Co (K), General Mills (GIS)

General Mills (
GIS), a business in constant battle with fellow cereal concern Kellogg (
K), saw some weakness Wednesday following its fourth-quarter release, which was posted Tuesday after the bell. But should a long-term investor care? No. It isn't a big deal.
The stock has been relatively decent over the last
twelve months. Shares are currently closer to the 52-week high of $38.98 than they are to the 52-week low of $27.64. Here's something else that might put today's slide into perspective: a couple days ago, management announced a
17% increase in the dividend; the new quarterly payment has been set at 28 cents per share. At the time of this writing, the company had a bid of $35.65. Such a price bestows upon the equity a yield of better than 3%.
Continue reading General Mills Down After Q4 Report
Posted Jun 27th 2010 12:30PM by Trey Thoelcke (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Forecasts, General Mills (GIS), Economic Data
The calendar quarter winds down this week, and in the days leading up to the Independence Day holiday in the U.S., Apollo Group Inc. (APOL) is expected to be an earnings winner. General Mills (GIS) and Monsanto (MON) are scheduled to report quarterly results this week as well, but analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect them to post smaller profits.
Analysts on average expect for-profit education provider Apollo Group to report that its fiscal third-quarter earnings rose 18.7% from a year ago to $1.55 per share. Revenue for the three months that ended in May is expected to have risen 23.2% in the past year to $1.3 billion. Apollo Group's per-share earnings have topped consensus estimates in the past five quarters, by as much as 13 cents per share. The First Call recommendation of analysts is to buy APOL and has been for more than 90 days. Shares have fallen 28.6% in the past three months and reached a 52-week low of $43.49 on Friday.
Continue reading The Week in Preview: Expectations for Apollo Group, General Mills, Monsanto
Posted Jun 10th 2010 11:30AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, AutoZone Inc (AZO), Kellogg Co (K), Family Dollar Stores (FDO), General Mills (GIS), Oracle Corp (ORCL), Analyst Initiations
Analyst Upgrades
- Baird upgraded C.H. Robinson (CHRW) to outperform from neutral and has a $67 target on the stock. The firm upgraded shares citing growth opportunities given the capacity constrained environment.
- UBS upgraded Navistar (NAV) to buy from neutral, citing improved trucker preferences towards the company's engine technology.
- KeyBanc upgraded Crane (CR) to buy from hold based on valuation stabilization and potential upside in aerospace, among other reasons. The firm has a $39 target on the stock.
- United Therapeutics (UTHR) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
- Equifax (EFX) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Stephens.
- Brown & Brown (BRO) was upgraded to buy from hold at Citigroup.
Continue reading Analyst Calls: ANDS, AZO, CHRW, CR, CRM, FDO, GIS, K, NAV, ORCL ...
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