General Mills, Inc. - GIS

General Mills, Inc. is a global manufacturer of consumer foods sold through retail stores. GIS manufactures its products in 15 countries and markets them in more than 100 countries. GIS is organized into three operating segments: U.S. Retail, International, and Bakeries and Foodservice. Its product categories in the United States include ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, ready-to-serve soup, dry dinners, shelf stable and frozen vegetables, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, grain, fruit and savory snacks, and a variety of organic products including soup, granola bars, and cereal. In July 2011, it acquired 51% controlling interest in Yoplait S.A.S.
General Mills started a program to raise funds for your local schools. It is called Box Tops for Education. This program is a great way that GIS gives back! They have raised $400 million over the past 15 years and in the past year alone they have given $59 million dollars to U.S. schools. Watch the video below to learn more.
I like GIS because they currently pay $0.31 per share, which is a 3.25% dividend yield (as of Sept. 10th, 2011). Also, their market cap is larger than Kellogg's, stock ticker K. GIS stock has had 4 stock splits since November 10th, 1986. They have some GREAT "Common Man" brands, such as Betty Crocker, Bisquick, Cheerios, Chex, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Fiber One, Haagen-Dazs, Hamburger Helper, Lucky Charms, Macaroni Grill, Nature Valley, Old El Paso, Pillsbury, Progresso, Total, Trix, Wheaties and Yoplait!
Click here to visit their Investors page to learn more about this stable company. Also, here to review their SEC Filings. Trust me, they will be around forever, which is a great reason to include them within your Roth IRA stock portfolio!