A $1,000 Investment in General Mills a Decade Ago Is Now Worth $831, Even With Every Dividend Reinvested
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A $1,000 purchase of General Mills (NYSE:GIS | GIS Price Prediction) at the November 2016 month-end close of $60.94 per share, with every dividend reinvested, was worth about $831 as of November 13, 2026, after the shares closed at $34.32 that day. On share price alone, if you fast-forward 10 years, the same $1,000 would be worth about $563.
Cheerios, Blue Buffalo and a Shrinking Top Line
The Cheerios and Pillsbury maker spent the decade rebuilding its portfolio. It bought premium pet food brand Blue Buffalo in 2018, then sold its U.S. yogurt business in fiscal 2026 for a $1.05 billion pre-tax gain and moved to sell its Brazil operations. Fiscal 2026 also carried $1.75 billion[1] in impairment charges, largely linked to North America Pet. Full-year revenue fell 5.45%[1] to $18.42 billion, with a net loss of $87.6 million.
On the September 23, 2026[2] earnings call, management said middle- and lower-income consumers are “very stressed” and are still “waiting to buy products on sale.” Input cost inflation is running at the higher end of a 4% to 5% range, small insurgent brands are taking growth in fruit snacks, and the company is reformulating products around protein and fiber.
Dividends Lifted $563 to $831 but Couldn’t Close the Gap
1-Year Return
- Initial Investment: $1,000
- Current Value: $774.80
- Total Return: -22.52%
- S&P 500 (same period): $1,122.50 (12.25%)
5-Year Return
- Initial Investment: $1,000
- Current Value: $666.30
- Total Return: -33.37%
- Annualized Return: -7.80%
- S&P 500 (same period): $1,614.40 (61.44%)
10-Year Return (from November 30, 2016)
- Initial Investment: $1,000
- Current Value: $830.90
- Total Return: -16.91%
- Annualized Return: -1.84%
- S&P 500 (same period): $3,423 (242.3%)
The space between $563 and $831 is what reinvested dividends added. The share price itself fell 43.68% over the period. The S&P 500 figures reflect price change only, so the benchmark gap would be wider if dividends were included. The stock closed April 2023 at $88.63 before falling.
A 7% Yield Built Partly on a Lower Price
The quarterly dividend is $0.61, or $2.44 annualized, up from $0.48 in late 2016, and the company marked its 127th[1] consecutive year of continuous dividends. The yield is about 7.13%. Part of that comes from the falling share price, because the same payout measured against a smaller price gives a bigger percentage (a yield built that way is one of the warning signs we flagged in a free guide to dividend traps, here: 7 signs a big yield is about to be cut). General Mills also appeared in a September 24/7 Wall St. list of well-known high-yield stocks near 52-week lows.
Trading Near 11x Forward Earnings With Debt to Pay Down
Shares currently trade at about 11 times forward earnings, and the average analyst target is around $36.53. Fiscal 2027 guidance calls for organic net sales down 1.5% to 0.5%, plus adjusted EPS of $3.00 to $3.20. A case for the shares would rest on $750 million[2] in planned savings this year and stronger cat food and treats sales. One plain risk is leverage, which management put at just over four times[2] net debt to EBITDA, with a return to its target expected to take at least a couple of years.
Over the past decade at General Mills, reinvested dividends offset part of the share price fall.
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David Beren has been a Flywheel Publishing contributor since 2022. Writing for 24/7 Wall St. since 2023, David loves to write about topics of all shapes and sizes. As a technology expert, David focuses heavily on consumer electronics brands, automobiles, and general technology. He has previously written for LifeWire, formerly About.com. As a part-time freelance writer, David’s “day job” has been working on and leading social media for multiple Fortune 100 brands. David loves the flexibility of this field and its ability to reach customers exactly where they like to spend their time. Additionally, David previously published his own blog, TmoNews.com, which reached 3 million readers in its first year. In addition to freelance and social media work, David loves to spend time with his family and children and relive the glory days of video game consoles by playing any retro game console he can get his hands on.
