MCDONALD’S CORP. $90 (New York symbol MCD; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.0 billion; Market cap: $90.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.3; Dividend yield: 3.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.mcdonalds.com) operates 34,000 restaurants in 119 countries. Two-thirds of its sales come from outside the U.S. It serves a variety of foods, but is best known for its hamburgers and french fries.
McDonald’s continues to benefit from strong demand for its Dollar Menu, which features items like breakfast sandwiches and coffee for just $1. It is also seeing strong sales of new premium items and foods that it sells on a limited-time basis.
The company’s same-store sales rose 2.4% in November 2012. Most of these gains came from the U.S., where same-store sales increased 2.5%. Same-store sales rose 1.4% in Europe, as gains in the U.K. and Russia offset weakness in Germany. Asian same-store sales rose 0.6%, as gains in Australia offset weakness in Japan.
The stock trades at 16.9 times the company’s likely 2012 earnings of $5.32 a share. The $3.08 dividend yields 3.4%.
McDonald’s is a buy.
