General Mills sticks to its forecast

Article Excerpt

GENERAL MILLS INC. $51 (New York symbol GIS, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 634.3 million; Market cap: $31.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; Dividend yield: 3.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.generalmills.com) expects costs for ingredients like wheat and corn to rise 3% in its 2014 fiscal year, which ends May 24, 2014. It is also spending more to develop new foods, like gluten-free cereals. However, cost controls should help offset these increases. As a result, General Mills still expects to earn $2.87 to $2.90 a share in fiscal 2014. The stock trades at a reasonable 17.7 times the midpoint of that range. General Mills is a buy. buy…