Financial+Positioning+&+Sustainability

__*General Mills, Inc. Financial Analysis through Stock Prices & Operations:__
This section goes through different weeks of tracking General Mills, Inc. Common Stock beginning the week of September 12, 2011 through December 2, 2011. It also provides graphs and information that go with the weeks, as well as SEC filing, financial statements, and dividend payment history.

***SEC Filings** :
 * Any of the SEC filings that General Mills has put out can be found by going to this link. The most recent SEC filings were put out after GIS released its' latest quarterly report. This link provides a look at these SEC filings as well as older ones: [|General Mills' SEC Filings]

General Mills, Inc. stock started of with lower prices at the beginning of its' tracking, and as the weeks went by, the prices started climbing up into the $38 and $39 range. The volume has decreased from where it began, but remains pretty stable as well as the prices. When General Mills released its' quarterly report the stock price and volume soared, as well as news headlines. As of now, there is not much news on General Mills, but the company seems to be remaining stable and a good investment due to its' consistent and high-earning dividends it pays out to its' shareholders. It is a company with many great competitors, but is considered one of the top companies as well as a top investment option for the long-run. Its' numerous socially conscious events help build up its' consumer loyalty and trust, as well as getting recognized as a company that not only serves high-quality products, but also gives back to the community. The company's effort to increase healthy options in its' product mix also is seen by the consumers as a favorable act from the company, since many consumers are looking for that healthier option. Overall, this company impacts all ages, from young to old, because all consume and buy its' product for daily or regular consumption.

Below is the specific look into each of the weeks that General Mills, Inc. was tracked and looked at. Each week goes through the specific headlines and news that could have impacted the company's operations and its' position in the stock market:

On Thursday, September 16, the stock prices hit an extreme low point at around 10 am. There were also the lowest volume amount of stocks traded today. Some news that could have impacted the trading of stocks was Martha Stewart visiting General Mills, Inc., which might not have been seen as something positive. Also, the prices during this week seem to be stable and staying near $37. According to the company's website, their earnings report was due to come out soon, and so this could have had something to do in the stable prices that were apparent during the week. Investors were waiting to see if General Mills wass meeting expectations. Up until now, it was expected for the company to have less EPS than the same quarter last year. The main thing that was being anticipated at this time was consumers waiting on the company's quarterly report, which was released on September 21, 2011.
 * __//Financial Analysis for Week of September 12, 2011//__: **

//---Below is the screenshot of GIS stock on September 14, 2011, demonstrating a low dip a little after 10 am and the lower GIS stock price://
**//(Source(s): Yahoo! Finance, Reuters.com).//**

For this week, the biggest event was General Mills, Inc. announcing their quarter 2 reports for the fiscal year on Wednesday, September 21. The results beat the analysts' expectations, and as a result the highest volume of stocks traded was on this day. General Mills, Inc.'s high earnings were due to their increase in prices, which helped them cover the higher fuel and ingredient costs for their food processing; so, in essence, General Mills, Inc. raised its prices to offset their higher costs of grains.
 * //__Financial Analysis for Week of September 19, 2011__:// **

Another major plus for the company was that it beat out its competitor, ConAgra Foods, whom reported its earnings on Tuesday of this week. General Mills, Inc. was said to have a stronger brand, which is a great advantage with the consumers. Even though it did have higher than expected earnings, General Mills, Inc. did not do so well in the "home meals" category, as opposed to their Big G cereals, which the company is highly competitive in. Another factor that contributed to General Mills, Inc.'s success, was the acquisition of Yoplait yogurts back in July. This increased their sales by 3%. Basically, due to their quality and trusted products, the consumers are willing to accept and pay the company's higher prices. Overall, even though GIS' earnings were up, the net profit was down 14% to $405.6 million from $473.6 million last year, but revenue still increased from the increased prices, the company's solid brands, and implementation of new products.

For Wednesday, after the announcement at 11:00am, the stock prices went up 0.95 cents, the highest they have gotten in a while. As General Mills, Inc. reported, spending on their advertising, research, and marketing increases and maintains their customer loyalty. General Mills, Inc. is looking to expand, since the U.S. multicultural makeup seems and looks favorable. With all the economic fluctuations, high unemployment, and a bad housing market, General Mills, Inc. states that these factors are pressuring consumers to buy in a more developed market, and hence the reason for considering expansion.

Lastly, one last important point is that on Monday, General Mills, Inc. reported that their dividend payouts throughout this 2011 year increased to $0.305 per share, which is a nice incentive for GIS' shareholders. All this positive information goes to tell why on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, stock price and volume went up.

// ---Below is the graph screenshot showing the soar in stock price and stock volume the day after General Mills, Inc.'s earning repor t://



//---Below is the graph showing the change in stock prices starting from September 21, and the 4 days after it. The stock prices are going up, almost reaching $40://
**//(Sources: Yahoo! Finance, Reuters, Associated Press).//**

During this week, the Annual Stockholder's Meeting was held on September 26, 2011. General Mills, Inc.'s spending was announced to mostly include digital advertising and multicultural advertising. From this meeting, GIS reported out what they got done, which included their stock compensation plan, the 13 board directors that were nominated by the shareholders, an increase in dividend payouts to $0.305, and executive compensation in the company.
 * __//Financial Analysis for the Week of September 26, 2011//__: **

Another important event this week was General Mills' announcement of planning to add up to twice the number of Haagen-Dazs stores in the Philippines. More specifically, they want to add 5 to 10 more locations in the Manila area. The reason behind doing this is to expand the company through franchising, since there are already 10 stores in Philippines' reported capital. Consumers are still cautious in this uncertain economy, but the increase in GIS's dividend payouts serve as an incentive to continue investing in the company. Despite this fact, stock prices have been lower and slowly dwindling back down compared to the rapid increase after General Mills' released its most recent quarter earnings report. Prices reached the highest of $39.45 on September 27th, almost reaching $40.

Wall Street recognized GIS as one of the 9 stocks that reached this week's high prices. It seems that GIS stock is opening at a high price then declining during the day, and closing at a lower price. The biggest drop seemed to be on September 28, which was down by $2.05. The 391 points drop on the DOW Jones on Friday did not greatly impact GIS stock, since its' stock price was already going back down, and either way, GIS is a well-branded company that has been around for years.

A big endeavor that General Mills is taking on is partnering with Dr. Travis Stork, a host of the popular show, The Doctors, and the WomenHeart for the Cholesterol Education month. This is good press for General Mills because they are demonstrating good social responsibility through their campaigns and outreach programs. Another campaign, through their newly acquired Yoplait company, will be held in New York by partnering with Betsey Johnson, a fashion icon. They will be giving out 50,000 free cups of Yoplait original yogurt, trying to sell the idea that "style meets substance". These campaigns bring a good image to the company and helps maintaing prices and not allow them to drop down anymore.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Lastly, General Mills' profit margin will continue to be under pressure since, as reported in their earnings, GIS is absorbing higher and higher cost for their commodities, such as their corn to fuel costs. But, GIS can raise their prices due to their trusted, leading brands. Overall, GIS is relatively stable in their operations, and their stock prices are staying neart the same range of $38 to $39. At the end of the week GIS made public the SEC Form 8-K form from the 2011 Annual Stockholders' Meeting showing the election of directors, for, against, abstainments, and broker non-votes counted up for each category. Another important factor for General Mills was their reformulation of their Chex breakfast cereals, Betty Crocker cake/brownie mixes, and Bisquick pancake mix to remove the gluten. This is a positive aspect because many consumers look for products that are gluten-free for health concerns.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In the end, the greatest volume of traded stocks for GIS was on Thursday, September 22, with a dramatic drop in volume by Friday of last week and the Monday of this week. A public relations/ publicity event that was put out this week was by Martha Stewart, publicizing picures of her visit to General Mills and her speech titled, "Martha Stewart: Building a Brand that Connects with Consumers", which is a true fact that allows companies like General Mills, Inc. to succeed and increase their revenues and earnings in order to maintain consumer trust and loyalty. And a press release informing the public of a new additional product within the Green Giant line of products: new Fresh Steamers vegetables, will increase this loyalty by pleasing entire families and their needs.

//---The screenshot below was on September 28, 2011 showing GIS's stock prices dwindling down throughout the day; opening high and closing lower.//
//**(Source(s): Yahoo! Finance, BusinessWire.com, TheMotleyFool.com/Investing, Moody.com).**//

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">During this week, GIS announced that they will be paying out their $0.305 dividend on November 1, 2011. In terms of their dividends, on October 5th the company declared their ex-dividend. This means that for shareholders to receive any dividend-payouts they must have purchased them before the ex-dividend date. Any shares bought on or before the ex-dividend date will not be entitled to receive a dividend. This is done by companies to finalize their finances and determine which shareholders are eligible for the payout.According to analysts, GIS is trading at good yields along with other grocery store stocks due to its popular brands like Yoplait, Betty Crocker, Jolly Green Giant, and Pillsbury.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">__//Financial Analysis for Week of October 3, 2011://__ **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In other news, Ford Motor Co. teamed up with General Mills, Inc. to donate money to local school through the Box Tops Program. General Mills, Inc. also shows that it can make it through tough days in the stock market without tremendous change. Its market leaderhip and steady cash flow helps the company survive these economic downturns. For example on October 4th, when stocks were the lowest they have been by almost going into a "bear market", GIS was listed as one of the ten stocks that fell the least that day and is closest to their 52-week high. General Mills, Inc. has a good defensive due to their <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">top brands and good-yielding dividends.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">GIS is expected to keep performing well even with all the "recesstion-weary" consumers. The idea behind this is that consumers are always going to need to consume on these type of products. The value retailing, value-oriented food manufacturers, value advertising, and <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">value-oriented entertainment are the areas in which consumers will always spend in. To consumers, value equals the quality plus the price. GIS is good at pricing and providing value, and so this explaining why the company is doing well. General Mills' top cereals, yogurt, bakery, and soup are its strong areas of dominance. The the only drawback would be the increasing commodity prices of wheat and corn, which is tying up the company to the price of grains, but it is expected for these prices to go down in the future.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Other news about General Mills was its #2 position on the Forbes list of good brands based on consumer perception. The criteria was made of good ethical leadership, trustworthiness, social good, and innovation. When people were asked about General Mills, they immediately thought of cereal and cheerios. Again, proving GIS's strong position in its' brands. For the most part, GIS stock prices have been fluctuating between $37 and $38 this week. On October 6th was when GIS stock rose to $38.17 after staying at or around $37 throughout the early part of the week. Overall, General Mills is doing well because of the high demand of their products, as well as their essential quality even in a downward economy. General Mills' good press and social work helps their image even more, as well as the admirable Yoplait company.

//Below are 3 screenshots (starting from least recent) showing the short-lasting volatility in GIS stock price during the days this week://





 * // (Sources: Yahoo! Finance, Forbes.com, Associated Press). //**

**<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">//__Financial Analysis for the Week of October 10, 2011:__// ** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">During this week, General Mills' stock prices had been staying near $37, but near the end of the week, the prices went up to $39, coming close to reaching $40.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Big news for the company was that they are working hard to make their cereals healthier. For example, with Lucky Charms, GIS wants to reduce the sugar from 15 grams to 10 grams.The company is commited to reach single digit numbers, while still meeting product requirements, such as having the cereal pieces float in the milk for at least 3 minutes. There has been a lot of headlines for General Mills, which include mostly positive news for the company, explaining why the stock price went up.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">General Mills' newly acquired Yoplait is adding a new flavor to the Frozen Fruit & Yogurt Smoothies called Chocolate banana. This is good for General Mills because Yoplait is the second largest yogurt maker in the world, and the first in the U.S., which means that people trust in Yoplait and this new flavor should add to GIS sales. Big news that occurred on Wednesday was that GIS stock was upgraded to "Buy" by Goldman Sachs instead of "Neutral". The reason for this was that Sachs expects General Mills to have profit margins top the industry by next year since foods costs are expected to grow at a slower rate by then. GIS stock price target was also raised to $44, where it had previously been $41.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Not so good news for General Mills is that its' accounts receivables are growing at a greater rate than their revenue, which means that their next quarter report many not be as good as their latest one. The reason for the high growth of accounts receivables is probably due to the Yoplait acquisition since it is a change within the business, which accoring to Barron's, is an indicator for accounts receivales growing faster than revenue. General Mills also has high debt, but is seen as a strong enough company to handle all the debt. When GIS assumes debt, the company has to make sure that the returns from investing the money are higher than what the debt cost, and GIS seems to be doing well at that. Major additions to their cereals, General Mills announced that they will be partnering with DC Comic Division of Time Warner to offer custom editions of comics inside their Big G cereal boxes. The financial terms of the deal have not been made public, but General Mills says this is the perfect time to do this. According to the company, Halloween is the perfect time for the superheroe comics in the boxes, as well as getting kids to read more. The company plans to announce this new idea through social media and online.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Negative news around General Mills includes lawmakers opposing the U.S. liming food ads to kids, saying that the U.S. has gone too far. The lawmakers are attacking the Obama administration proposal for limiting food ads to children, saying that it suppressing free speech. Other bad news for General Mills, which may explain lower stock volumes and lowering stock prices, is the lawsuit placed against General Mills over their fruit snack ad claims. GIS is being attacked over their Fruit Roll-Ups, Fruit-by-the-Foot, and Fruit Gushers products. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) says that the products are mostly sugars, artificial additives, and harmful artificial dyes, while General Mills says the fruit products are low in fat and calories. So far General Mills has said that the report has not gotten to them yet and that it has only been announced to media, but that GIS stands behind their products and the accuracy of their labelings.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">To finish off, postiive news includes General Mills being listed as one of the 50 companies for "best coporate reputations in America". General Mills ranked 32 on the list with a 72.31 Corporate Social Responsibility Index. Another reason why GIS stock prices are going up is because of GIS's strong health improvements. The improvements include adding whole grains, fiber, and calcium, as well as reducing calories, sugar, sodium, and trans fats. The reason for doing this is that the company is responding to those consumers that are looking for healthful, great tasting foods that fit into their lifestyles. The idea is to make General Mills' products taste great, but also make them nutritious. All of these improvements and good press is probably the reason for GIS's stability and rising stock prices.

// --Below is the screenshot showing the dramatic increase in GIS stock price on October 11 ://



//--Below is the screenshot demonstrating the drop in GIS stock price by the end of the week on October 14://



//** (Sources: Yahoo! Finance, Associated Press, Barron's, Reuters, Minneapolis Business Journal, Zacks, BusinessWire, New Mexico Business Weekly, Wall Street Journal, The New York Times). **//

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">For General Mills, Inc., this week was not too full of impacting headlines stories or big changes in its' stock price. At the beginning of the week, GIS stock volume was increasing, but as the week progressed, the stock volume remained at around 3 or 4 million.
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">__//Financial Analysis for the Week of October 17, 2011://__ **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">As mentioned last week, General Mills' partnership with DC Comics to promote reading among young children was talked about more during this week. As compared to previous weeks, GIS stock prices have stayed relateively high, around $38 and $39. This is due to the fact that the company has well-liked dividend payouts and yields. GIS made it onto the list of 4 high quality equity income stocks, after passing different tests. The criteria included being a high quality company; reasonable, dependable, and growing dividend income; and without too much price volatility. GIS passed the test after analysts looked at its' dividend history, the company's attributes, price charts, business descriptions, current yield, and its' price per earnings growth. Another reason GIS has remained steady in its' prices is probably due to analysts' advice in investing in high-yielding stocks, which includes General Mills. According to Jim Cramer, dividends are what offset most of the losses, and GIS is offering a 3.10% dividend yield, while nearing its 52-week high of $40.25. It is true that GIS is growing a bit slower rate than its' competitors, but GIS is still consistent and one of the few companies that says things can get better within the downturn of the economy. Overall, GIS remains postive, which attracts shareholders as well.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The biggest news story this week, which impacts the food industry, and thus General Mills, is the plan of reducing agricultural spending to reduce the federal budget deficit. The plan is to shrink funds to farmers regardless of crop prices. The news for now is that the leaders of the U.S. House and Senate have until November 23rd, 2011 to decide what to do, since obama has proposed a $33 billion cut in farms progrmas for 10 years. The leaders of the House and Senate say that the cut should be no more than $23 billion over 10 years within the areas of agriculture, rural development, and nutrition. They argue that federal subsidies encourage greater production and reduce raw-material costs for the grain traders, which in this case, includes General Mills. The House and Senate leaders want there to be a revenue-protection measure that would provide a safety net for the farmers, while spending is still being reduced. So the main idea behind this is that there is a battle between the White House and legislators going on right now. In other news, Obama administration also is pushing for a uniform nutrition labeling system in front of packages this year. The idea is to reduce obesity and health problems.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Negative news for General Mills this week was their recall of FiberOne 90 calories chewy bars. GIS said that only a single day's production of the product was mistakenly put in the wrong boxes. The 5 count chocolate-flavored bars might contain bars with peanuts, which could be deadly to some consumers, due to allergies. GIS gave out their phone number for consumer to call for a replacement or full refund, which demonstrates the company's concern for its' customers, and the idea of customer satisfaction.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Overall, without too much news for General Mills this week, consumers still continue to feel safe investing in GIS, since it offers good dividend payouts in such a volatile economy. This encourages investors to invest, since the company looks good for the future. Even though PepsiCo is making big news with its' big earnings and increasing revenue, GIS is still remaining stable.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">One last story involving GIS, was the idea that there is a vast market for potential explosion of products and services. According to Forbes, there is huge opportunity for reinvention, experimentation, and consumption within the age group of the baby boomers. The idea is that older americans are now dominating the poplulation growth, and so companies, like GIS, must serve them as a new market by innovating new products. GIS has received speeches talking about untapped opportunities, and so it is likely that GIS might start innovating new products to reach out to the older population. Also, with baby boomers, companies want to keep these workers because they are the skilled workers and specialists in big companies like General Mills. The negative side of keeping these baby boomers on the job is that it prevents younger workers to move up into higher level jobs, which delays their development as leaders. General Mills is keeping part-time consulting work for baby boomers, which gives room to others, the younger employees to move up in rank.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Overall, General Mills' stock prices stayed pretty constant this week. On Friday, though, stock price went up and almost reached $40, possibly due to General Mills' stability in such a volatile market. Consumers and shareholders seem to remain loyal to the company since they feel safe with GIS's dividend yield and payouts. Especially, with good press surrounding the company, like its Wheaties fundraiser for Pujol's Family Foundation, which helps those with disabilities, poor education, and impoverished lives. GIS will be donating up to $10,000 to this foundation, which demonstrates to consumers and shareholders, again, that GIS is a reliable company that helps in community improvement.

//---Below are some chronological snapshots showing the change in GIS stock prices. It shows the relative stability in the company and the rise in price near the end of the week://





//---This screenshot below shows the highest stock price that GIS got to this week: $39.75//



**//(Sources: Yahoo! Finance, Forbes.com, Investopedia, Bloomberg, Mad Money's Jim Cramer, Associated Press, and CNN Money).//**

**<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">//__Financial Analysis for the Week of October 24, 2011:__// ** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">During this week General Mills was pretty consistent in their stock price and stock volume. There were not many fluctuations or volatility in their stock this week. The stock price pretty much stayed near $38 and $39.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">General Mills, again, demonstrated that it is a socially conscious company by providing relief money to Joplin, MO, an area that was hit by a tornado. They also gave out free samples of Cheerios and Nature Valley products from their factory plant located near the affected area. This demonstrates that General Mills cares for its' community and offers help and support to it when there is a need. This not only is good press for General Mills, but it increases the consumers' trust and loyalty towards the company.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Other news that affects GIS is the earnings reports that will be coming out from its' competitiors. Hershey's, Hain Celestial Group, Inc., and Archer Daniels. All three companies are expected to do well, but GIS will be on the lookout for the results. Another consistent fact about GIS this week was its' consistent earnings, which provides it with a reliable income prodution. GIS is providing a stock with little downside risk and small volatility. Its' 3.1% dividend payouts are uninterrupted, and have been without reduction for the past 113 years. What puts GIS at a good spot is this consistency and its strong line of new products and marketing initiatives. In terms of competitors, Campbell Soup is in a heated battle with General Mills' Progresso Soup. Both are trying to serve consumers that are looking for healtheir choices.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Furthermore, during this week analysts' stated that corporate insiders have been trading a number of consumer sector stocks, including GIS, which may explain why GIS stock prices are staying pretty high. In addition, more good press for GIS appeared this week with the company's announcement of its' postcard campaign between Cheerios and USO to spread cheer to those military families and support the USO programs. During the months of October and November, Cheer postcards are going to be put into specially marked Cheerios cereal boxes, and consumers will be able to cut out the postcard, write a thank you message, add a stamp, and mail it to USO. USO will then mail the Cheer card to military families across the country. For each postcard that is received, Cheerios will be making a donation to the USO to help fund its' programs designed to support military families. General Mills has stated a maximum of $250,000. This, again, demonstrates how involved and concerned GIS is with its' community well-being.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In terms of management, GIS has created mentoring programs for its' employees. Some are designed for women, in order to help them gain access to top-level management positions. This is good for the company because it demonstrates that GIS is concerned over its' organization and about women's position within the company. In fact, GIS was ranked #1 in leadership development by the Leadership Excellence Magazine, up from being #14 last year. The magazine stated that GIS offers career-long development opportunities, including mentoring, access to leadership experts and speakers, training at the General Mills Institute, tuition reimbursement, and individual development planning. The main criteria was vision and mission; design; content and curriculum; involvement and participation; measurement and accountability; presenters; presentation and delivery; take-home value; and outreach. Evidently General Mills accomplished all these criteria for it to be named #1.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">As shown, GIS seems to be doing well in the media, in investment, and in their management skills. Jim Cramer noted this week that GIS stock is a good long-term buy because of its' consistent dividends, which is one of the safest ways of making money in the highly-volatile market. Three factors were examined when looking at GIS: the current yield, dividend growth, and the payout ratio. GIS demonstrated to have good numbers, and so is highly-ranked as a company with good payouts, generating profits for shareholders.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">To demonstrate again General Mill's concern for consumers' health is their latest announcement that the company will not be using Monsanto biotech sweet corn in their products. In the news recently, there is a petition to ban the biotech corn, which is not being labeled as genetically altered corn, but as conventional corn. The main idea is that those companies that using the corn are not labeling this use of biotech corn, which means consumers will have no idea they are buying this genetically altered food, since the U.S. government does not require it. This shows that General Mills is concerned for the consumers' health by not using this type of corn, and letting the public now this fact. It makes the consumers feel safe, thus increasing loyalty towards General Mills, which is always good when trying to market new products.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">So overall, General Mills has been staying consistent in their stock price, without any dramatic changes to it, providing a safe investment compared to other competitors. It is providing a more stable economy with all its' production, new investments in marketing, and its' tutoring of employees to give them the skills needed to move up in their career. The company is also expanding, with new locations as well as to an older market, the baby boomers. All these factors from General Mills are providing a piece to the overall economic stability. The company's consistent stock value and volume demonstrate that it can withstand fluctuations, and so provides stability within a chaotic economy. This is reflected in its earnings report, but as of recently its' profits have gone down due to rising commodity costs and less consumer spending. General Mills is trying to focus more on advertising here in the U.S. as well as overseas. Its' new products are driving most of its' profits as of now, while the meal segment of the company is disappointing in sales. Less volumes of it is being shipped out. So, as the company goes on, it has to focus on finding a stable form of profit-input that will offset its' high energy and ingredients costs, which will allow them to lower their price and increase consumer spending, needed by the U.S. economy.

// Here is the weekly chart to show how little volatility GIS stock price has; it has basically stayed within a few cents of $38 and $39: //

//**(Sources: Yahoo! Finance, SeekingAlpha, Wall St. Cheat Sheet, Philadelphia Business Journal, Jim Cramer, Associated Press, CNBS FastMoney, and Reuters).**//

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">**__//Financial Analysis for the Week of October 31, 2011://__** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">During this week General Mills did not have too much activity going on. Its' stock price went down a few cents, but recooperated itself during the middle of the week. The stock volume did keep decreasing throughout the week, but prices stayed pretty stable, as always.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In terms of marketing, General Mills' Wheaties cereal will be issuing a limited-edition commemorative package honoring 2011 baseball champion Albert Pujols. These speacially-marked boxed will only be sold in 6 St. Louis grocery stores starting this Saturday at 8 am.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">On to other news, GIS, once again is under a list commemorating those selected companies that pay out great dividends, and that have been doing so for over 100 years. The criteria for being on the list was that yields had to exceed 2.5%, the dividends must be uninterrupted, and increasing payments every year. And, currently, GIS is doing just that, its' dividend yield is 3.10% and it has been paying out uninterrupted dividends for the past 133 years.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">During November 1st, there was a lot of fluctuation GIS stock price, which rarely happens with GIS. Usually it is, for the most part, stable. Maybe, since many of General Mills' competitors are releasing their earnings reports this week, many shareholders are moving their stock and thus impacting General Mills'. The competitors include Kraft, Kellogg, Hain Celestial Group, and Archer Daniels.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Good management news from General Mills is that, according to Forbes, it is one of the few companies that offers sponsorship and mentoring programs to its' employees. The idea is to teach, promote, and encourage its' employees who are just starting off or need some extra help to get going in the company.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In other news, GIS announced that its' organic brand, Muir Glen Tomatoes is going to be offering limited time quantities of harvest Sunset tomatoes. These tomatoes are being held in reserve from the early spring and fall harvest in northern California Yolo County. It seems that with the Wheaties and the organic tomatoes General Mills is implementing the idea of "limited products" in order to stimulate sales, which they need more of. The company might also be doing this in order to stay competitive against its' competitors, whom's earnings show that their sales have increased.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">That is what GIS is looking at right now, how it continues to compare against these competitors and their activities. For example, this week, Kellogg's disappointed with its' earnings report, which is good news for General Mills, because GIS stock is rising, while Kellogg's is dropping. GIS dividend payouts are one of the most promising dividends over the last 5 years. The company's growth rate has been 10.3%. The main idea that analysts say about GIS, is that shareholders must watch dividends and their payouts closely in order to make profit on investments. Also, the grocery business is said to be growing slowly and market leadership is going to count for a lot. Consumers are going to stick to brands that they trust and can provide them with consistency. General Mills must continue to maintain that trust and provide healthy and reliable choices in order to stay at the top of competition.

// --Below is the snapshot of Wednesday November 1st, GIS' fluctuating stock price: //

//---Below is the snapshot of prices rising at the end of the week://



// --Below is the whole weeks' snapshot of GIS stock price: //



//**(Sources: Yahoo! Finance, Seeking Alpha, Forbes, General Mills company website, Minneapolis BusinessWire, Investopedia).**//

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">**__//Financial Analysis for the Week of November 7, 2011//__:** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">During this week, there were minimal new stories for General Mills. Something noticeable was that stock prices did go up this week compared to last weeks'. The volume stayed about the same, with the lowest amount appearing on Thursday.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Other news involved GIS and it eing the top employer of the MBA job placement from University of Minnesota's School of Management. It was reported that salaries have increased up to $95,000 for recent graduates and bonuses have also increased from $5,000 to $20,000. This demonstrates how corporate jobs are seeing an increase in salaries, while the economy is still suffering from a downturn and unemployment.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Also, analysts said that processed food is here to stay and ready to explode into emerging markets. This demonstrates that there is great stability within this industry and thus in General Mills Inc. Even with this stability though, GIS is impacted greatly from its' quarter to quarter moves and volatility in commodity prices. Additionally, Cargill Company wants to push for 30% higher prices on high fructose syrup users, which includes General Mills, Inc. Thus, GIS and other companies are fighting against this push, saying that higher prices are going to be a reality, but that even if you substitute high frucose corn syrup, that is going to bring costs of its' own. Furthermore, analysts say that GIS as well as other competitors have been tweaking prices and incurring some volume pressure due to increases in revenue that was offset by decreases in volume.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In terms of advertising, companies within the food industry have been incurring lobbying costs since there is a dispute over making nutrition principles and marketing strategies against younger children mandatory. The food companies, including GIS, are avoiding restrictions, but under pressure, some are lowering the sugar, salt, and fat in their foods. For examples, General Mills had already reduced its' sugar amount from 15 grams to 10 grams, for example in Lucky Charms and Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereals. In its' Cheerios, the company has 1 gram of sugar in a 1 cup serving.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Moreover, General Mills recognized this week that it has opportunities overseas, and that it has placed huge emphasis on emerging markets for future cereal growth. General Mills has shared that Russia's ready-to-eat cereal consumption has already triped in the last 10 years.As stated before, General Mills is challenged by the timing and high commodity prices as well as balancing this out with the on-the-shelf volume losses that have been seen from the tracking of the company's stock.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">General Mills has also stated that intends to spend a total of $25 million to advertise during the first NickMom season that is being developed as late night shows for mothers from 9pm to 1am. According to Mark Addicks, the chief marketing officer for General Mills, "There is definitely an open space on television right now for programming featuring moms talking directly to other moms", and so this is where a large part of their money (from stocks) is going to, to a lot of the company's advertising.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Other big financial news, was General Mills reaffirming its' guidance for the 2012 fiscal year on Wednesday. The company expects to earn $2.59 to $2.61 per share for the year, excluding any integration costs from the Yoplait acquisition. Lastly, General Mills' CMO has reported that it can be expected that the company put out more online, viral marketing ads to reach consumers, which are now mostly spending their time online. The company's Facebook page is big in its' popularity. They have millions of "likes", setting the company at a high popularity, as well as enlarging the interaction between General Mills' brands and consumers.

//<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">--Below is the snapshot of this week's GIS stock prices. It shows the increase in price near the end of the week, in the high end of the $39 range: //



<span style="color: #118d4c; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**//(Sources: Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal, Investopedia, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Yahoo! Finance, Associated Press).//**

__//**<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Financial Analysis for the Week of November 14, 2011: **//__ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This week GIS was named one of the top largest shareholders at 10.9%. Prices of wheat have also gone down, and so General Mills has capitalized on these low commodity costs. Also, GIS was listed as one of the 5 retail stock to trade for this week for gains. Even though General Mills is not considered a retail company, it has a massive retail exposure with its' products, about $10.25 million to be exact. Even though this is true, GIS stock prices have reached a resistance level, where prices won't go aboe $40, which analysts say is due to a glut of share supply sitting above a set price. Bids are getting absorbed by that excess amount of supply. Through it all though, GIS still is one of the top-yielding food and beverage stocks.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In terms of marketing, General Mills said that their viral video put out a few months back has been being watched a lot, and has taught GIS a lot about viral videos, which the company never really used before. Furthermore, in terms of dividends, analysts mentioned again that GIS has good dividend payout, but that shareholders must continue to monitor a company's profits since that is where the dividends are being funded from. Also, even with the low growth markets, analysts say that people should still invest in high quality companies like General Mills because earnings can grow and deliver a postive return. General Mills was also named one of the top 5 corporate givers in grant making. Also, on Thursday, GIS sold bonds, a way of debt financing, for $1 billion of notes, issued at 3.15% and due in December 2021. Lastly, a study done by Pillsbury, one of GIS's brands, showed that Americans prefer holiday food over gifts, and so gave different recipies out online. This is a form of advertising as well as research development on what consumers want at specific times of the year. This allows General Mills to focus on certain products at certain times for a target market.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Moreover, there was a report on General Mills that it carries $13.2 billion of goodwill and other intangibles on its' balance sheet. Future problems that could arise from this goodwill is the high intangible assets ratio of 61%, which analysts view as worrisome "because management might be overpaying for the acquisition or acquisitions that gave rise to the goodwill" (Moore 2011). Also, GIS might "lack the capacity to protect themselves as a company in a recesstion or from better-financed competitors" (Moore, 2011). For their brand Betty Crocker, it celebrated its' 90th birthday by inviting consumers to subit their ideas for the birthday bash. 10 finalists were selected and each won a trip to the Betty Crocker Kitchens headquarters in Minneapolis. This is a good tactic by General Mills to involve their consumers in product development decisions as well as input on what they would like to see in Betty Croker's product line.

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**//---Below is the weekly chart showing the gradual drop in GIS stock price this week.//** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">

<span style="color: #118d4c; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//**(Sources: Yahoo! Finance, Motley Fool, Minnesota St. Paul Business, Seeking Alpha, Associated Press, The Street).**//

__//**<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Financial Analysis for the Week of November 21, 2011: **//__ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">This week was a short week, but there still was some news for General Mills. Its' stock prices were not so high this week. The week started off at $39 and kept going down to $38 and $37, but GIS is still seen as a stable company to invest in because it lies within the food/beverage stock that provide capital appreciation. These type of sctocks are not trading at a the best value but still have consistent growth and superior management teams. Other news includes GIS's increasing popularity online, especially with Betty Crocker on Facebook during this holiday season. The company reports growing social-media efforts through Pillsbury's launch of the "Holiday ideas made easy" campaign. From these efforts General Mills is expected to hit an all-time high in the next 5 months, but the company's next earnings announcement is scheduled until December 20th, 2011. In negative news for GIS was a study done using Progresso soup cans to show the exposure to a plastics additive, BPA, linked to health problems was found in the cans. This news could negatively be affecting General Mills' image in terms of its' soup, compared to Campbell's Soup, which is its' main competitor in terms of soup. Other intense competition is Kraft and Kellogg's. General Mills is the cheapest, but lacks exposure to emerging markets and is slightly undervalued, according to analysts. Ken Powell, General Mills' CEO stated that the company is dealing with high inflation and volatility in their input costs, but more and more consumers are only spending their money in developed markets that they know provide nutritional, tasteful, convenient, and valuable products. General Mills' abroad sales went up 30%, which provides confidence in the Yoplait acquisition. The company's main concer is "inflationary pressures", which GIS says will balance out with marketing and product innovation. For the past few months, General Mills has been behind in promotion, but now that it will focus more on this aspect, it should boost volumes and pricing. The main point is that General Mills has to cut costs, even though commodity costs are predicted to normalize soon. Lastly, the holiday season is a great time for the company because people will be using its' baking products for Thanksgiving. Favorite products from General Mills are its' pie crusts, pastries, and dough; mostly its' baking products. But, if GIS keeps makinga presence online and increasing their promotions, it should help the company be better than the competition.

//<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">--Below is the chart showing the week's progress for GIS this week, along with the holiday of Thanksgiving. //



//**<span style="color: #118d4c; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">(Sources: Yahoo! Finance, Associated Press, Seeking Alpha, General Mills company website). **//

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">//__**Financial Analysis for the Week of November 28, 2011**__//: <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This last week, General Mills saw in increase in its' stock prices. They started lingering at $38 and reached its' highest at $39.95 on Wednesday. November 30 when the DOW increased by 490 points. GIS stock increased by 2.2%, and a large volume of almost 5 million stocks were traded. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">General Mills also filed the SEC from 8-K to inform the SEC about its' underwriting agreement, and Officers' Certificate with respect to the $1,000,000 note's validity. This note is due in 2021 at 3.15%. Other news included GIS announcing Progresso's Souper You contest, where finalist receive a makeover and tickets to The Biggest Loser. Progresso continues to be the healthy choice in soups, in comparison to General Mills' competitor, Campbell Soup. GIS also recognized how its' gluten free changes to its' products has made the company more money. Athletes and health-conscious people are really pleased with these changes. GIS has converted many cereals and brownies to gluten-free products. As always, GIS was again listed as one of the companies with good dividends in this low economy. Overall, the biggest news this week for General Mills was its increase in stock price, almost reaching $40 on Wednesday when the DOW reached its' best since March 2009, rising 490 points. From Wednesday on, GIS stock price remained high at a $39 range.

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">//---Below is the chart showing the 2.2% increase of GIS stock on Wednesday Nov. 30:// <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">

<span style="color: #118d4c; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//**(Sources: Yahoo! Finance, Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal, and BusinessWire).**//

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Onto an overlook of GIS, this chart goes to show the net sales for General Mills, and all the different parts of the company that make up its' financial positioning. It demonstrates how their sales is increasing by a small amount of 2%, and the other categories are increasing by bigger amounts. The following chart demonstrates the company's U.S. revenues from its' different food categories (General Mills.com, 2011). These charts were added to emphasize that General Mills is a profitable company even though it has high debt and high commodity costs. These charts demonstrate and quantify the sales and shows which of General Mills' products are bringing in most of its' revenue/profits.

//**Revenues from different product categories (within the United States):**//
 * //(Source: General Mills, Inc. official company website).// **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Finally, this following chart demonstrates how effectively General Mills has grown its' retained earnings over the years since 1995 up until now. These earnings could be used to pay its' dividends and other company operations. (Wikinvest, 2011).



<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Moving on to financial statements and dividend history for General Mills, Inc., they demonstrate the high debt that the company has, as well as a high number of account receivables. The company also seems to have a lot of incurred expenses and costs, probably referring to the high commodity costs. In essence these statements reveal where General Mills is investing the money/capital that it is gaining from its' sales as well as from its common stock. The company is not really investing in researching, such as for market research, nor in any other long-term area. Mostly it is in high-debt, but maintaining and supporting itself as a company pretty well.

__---Below is the most recent quarterly income statement financial data:__


__** The following is the most recent quarterly balance sheet for General Mills, Inc.: **__

**__And last but not least, is General Mills, Inc.'s most recent quarterly Statement of Cash Flows, giving us a look on where the company is spending and making its' money:__**



THIS LINK PROVIDES THE FORM10-Q FOR THE 1st QUARTER 2012 FISCAL YEAR FOR GENERAL MILLS, INC. : [|General Mills, Inc. Fiscal 2012 Report]

//**(Source(s): Yahoo! Finance, MarketWatch.com, Zacks, The New York Times, Bizjournals.com, Associated Press).**//

__ **In terms of General Mills, Inc.'s dividends, the trending of dividends paid can be seen in the following table, ranging from the year 2007 up until the present year 2011:** __

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In June 9, 2010, there was a 2 for 1 (2:1) stock split. This was probably done in an effort to create more flow in the stock. With this type of stock split, for each stock the shareholder owns, he/she receives one additional stock, so that he/she now has two.The dividends demonstrate what has been repeatedly said about General Mills, Inc. It has consistent dividend payouts throughout the years, and as time goes on, its' dividend yield/payout is increasing, which is a fact that shareholders like.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Through this information, it is seen that General Mills, Inc. has been increasing their dividend payout increasingly over the years. The latest news, was their dividend increase to 0.305, paying out at 3.10%.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Overall, all General Mills' financial statements demonstrate that it is a stable company even within the fluctuating market, and that it has been able to support itself financially even besides the fact of having a large quantity of debt.

//**(Source(s): Yahoo! Finance and Beginnersinvest.about.com).**//