16 Best Income Stocks To Buy According to Analysts

13. General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Upside Potential as of December 13: 11.9%

With an upside potential of nearly 12%, General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) ranks thirteenth on our list of the best dividend stocks. The American food processing company also markets processed consumer food through retail stores. Recently, BofA upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral. The firm maintained an optimistic outlook on the company, noting its strategic efforts to stimulate growth, which could help restore its valuation to typical levels. Analyst Peter Galbo emphasized positive developments in the pet segment and stabilization within the North American retail division. Galbo’s team anticipates that General Mills will achieve a quicker and more sustainable pace of organic sales growth compared to other center-store food companies.

In fiscal Q1 2025, General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) posted revenue of $4.85 billion, a slight 1% decline from the same period last year but beating analysts’ expectations by $47.6 million. The company achieved an operating profit of $832 million. By enhancing its core operations and offering consumers more engaging experiences, it improved sales volumes, net sales, and market share trends compared to the previous quarter. Additionally, the company progressed in reshaping its portfolio to drive growth and profitability by announcing plans to sell its North American yogurt business to Lactalis and Sodiaal.

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS), one of the best dividend stocks, has been rewarding shareholders with growing dividends for the past 125 years. This strong dividend history can be attributed to the company’s solid cash generation. In the most recent quarter, the company generated $624 million in operating cash flow, growing from 378 million in the same quarter last year. It also returned $338 million to investors through dividends. Currently, it offers a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.58%, as of December 13.

With a collective stake value of more than $674 million, 30 hedge funds held positions in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) in Q3 2024, as per Insider Monkey’s database. In the previous quarter, 29 funds held investments in the company.