McDonald’s continues to expand

Article Excerpt

MCDONALD’S CORP. $234 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: $174.4 billion; Dividend yield: 2.2%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.mcdonalds.com) now has 39,160 restaurants in 119 countries. It last 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 now plans to open 1,300 new restaurants in 2021, including 500 in the U.S. At the same time, it plans to close 325 outlets inside U.S. Walmart stores. That’s because COVID-19 restrictions have hurt customer traffic. In all, the company expects to spend $2.3 billion on new stores and other growth initiatives in 2021. It can comfortably afford those outlays. As of March 31, 2021, it held cash of $3.02 billion, while its long-term debt of $34.8 billion equals just 20% of its market cap. McDonald’s is a buy. buy…