Investor Sentiment: General Mills

 

Warren Buffett has proven the key to investing is "buy to hold." The problem is, how do you know you're not holding onto a loser? For many investors, the only information they get besides glancing at an earnings release is the stock price. Separating the good from the bad is difficult, but finding well-run companies at bargain-basement prices is a great way to accumulate a fortune over the long run.

With that in mind, we at The Motley Fool have an easy-to-use tool for you to see how your company is doing. We use the intelligence of the 135,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS to see what the community is thinking about a company today, and compare that to how they felt about it last quarter. A change in approval (signified by four- and five-star ratings, the two highest) or disapproval (one- and two-star ratings) could indicate that further research is in order.

Here is the CAPS community's feeling for General Mills (NYSE: GIS), along with a pair of related companies. We've also given you the sentiment CAPS members had when it filed its latest quarterly or annual report. 

This Quarter (July 13, 2009):	General Mills	Kellogg (NYSE:  K)	ConAgra Foods (NYSE: CAG)
Price:	$59.09	$47.92	$18.84
% of Members Rating Outperform	94.8%	91.3%	88.8%
% of All-Star Members Rating Outperform	94.8%	93.7%	93.4%
CAPS Rating	****	****	****
Gain (Loss) Since Last Quarter	24.1%	29.5%	26.5%
Last Quarter (March 18, 2009):
Price:	$47.63	$37.01	$14.89
% of Members Rating Outperform	94.3%	91%	87.6%
% of All-Star Members Rating Outperform	94.4%	93.4%	87.2%
CAPS Rating	*****	****	***

Source: Motley Fool CAPS. Dates given are the posting dates of General Mills' most recent quarterly and/or annual reports to the SEC's website. Percentages are calculated from the number of members rating each company.