General Mills' net sales in the first quarter were $4.27 billion, lower than what had been expected. The price of the company's shares (NYSE:GIS) has dropped nearly 3.7 percent to $51.22 since the earnings were announced Wednesday morning. So far this year the share price has climbed about 2.6 percent. The company increased its quarterly dividend earlier this year by nearly 8 percent, to 41 cents per share.