As the bear market continues to rage, a boring stock has quietly hit an all-time high. On Tuesday, shares of General Mills hit $76.09, a new intraday high since the food company began publicly trading in 1928. Investors have been active in the food company. , has rallied more than 10% this year while the mainstream average fell into a bear market territory during the same time period. Shares rallied quickly after the open, but shares of General Mills were recently down nearly 2% in trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average last fell about 500 points, or about 1.7%, as recession fears loomed over traders. The maker of Cheerios and Annie’s recently impressed Wall Street with an earnings beat that proves it can raise prices to offset rising costs, without hurting sales. their mugs, yogurt and other staples. During his earnings call, General Mills CEO Jeffrey Harmening said more and more consumers are turning to eating at home, rather than eating out at restaurants, to save money as food prices continue to rise. “Consumers are in a good place right now, and we haven’t really seen any elasticity change,” Harmening said. “And I think that’s because of the shift from eating away from home to eating at home.” Consumer demand for packaged foods will remain strong despite historically high inflation rates, according to a note last month from Bank of America. Household budgets are being stretched by higher food costs, gasoline prices and rent. The company said companies like General Mills remained “relatively resilient” as packaged food volumes remained elevated. Last week, General Mills said it approved a 6% increase in its dividend, which is appealing to investors looking for income amid more volatile market conditions. In August, the food producer will pay a quarterly dividend of 54 cents per share, up from 51 cents the previous quarter. That puts the stock’s dividend yield at 2.9%, according to FactSet.
