Here are key updates on 3 dividend payers: McDonald’s, IGM Financial and CIBC

Article Excerpt

MCDONALD’S CORP. $213 is a buy. The fast-food giant (New York symbol MCD; Income-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 745.1 million; Market cap: $158.7 billion; Dividend yield: 2.4%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.mcdonalds.com) raised your quarterly dividend by 3.2% in December 2020, to $1.29 a share from $1.25. The new annual rate of $5.16 yields 2.4%. McDonald’s sales in the fourth quarter of 2020 fell 2.1%, to $5.31 billion from $5.43 billion a year earlier. On a same-store basis, sales fell 1.3%. That’s because many of its international outlets continue to operate at lower-than-normal capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions. However, same-store sales at its U.S. operations rose 5.5% as higher average orders per customer offset a drop in customer visits. If you exclude a gain on the sale of a stake in McDonald’s Japanese affiliate, earnings in the quarter dropped 13.7%, to $1.70 a share from $1.97. That’s due to higher costs associated with the pandemic. However, earnings should improve in 2021 as more…