Tim Hortons eyes global growth

Article Excerpt

TIM HORTONS INC. $63 (Toronto symbol THI; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 148.9 million; Market cap: $9.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.0; Dividend yield: 1.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.timhortons.com) continues to draw customers to its coffee-and-donut shops with successful new menu items, such as panini sandwiches. It has also raised its prices to cover higher ingredient costs. As a result, sales rose 2.9% in the third quarter of 2013, to $825.4 million from $802.0 million a year earlier. Same-store sales rose 1.7% in Canada (3,500 stores) and 3.0% in the U.S. (817 stores). Tim Hortons also has 33 outlets in the Persian Gulf and plans to enter more countries in the next few years. If you exclude a writedown and other unusual items, earnings per share rose 6.9%, to $0.77 from $0.72. Tim Hortons is a buy. buy…