Growth ahead for fast-food giant

Article Excerpt

RESTAURANT BRANDS INTERNATIONAL INC. $91 (Toronto symbol QSR; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 461.3 million; Market cap: $42.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 7.8; Dividend yield: 2.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.rbi.com) is the world’s third-largest fast-food operator after McDonald’s (No. 1) and Yum Brands (No. 2). It has 25,066 outlets in over 100 countries: 17,239 Burger King, 4,805 Tim Hortons (coffee and donuts) and 3,022 Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen (fried chicken). The company now plans to expand to over 40,000 outlets in the next eight to 10 years. To reach that goal, it would have to open about 1,400 restaurants annually; the company added over 1,300 new locations in both 2017 and 2018. Restaurant Brands feels strong growth in its core categories will support its continuing expansion. It estimates that its global sales between 2018 and 2023 will rise 5.9% annually for coffee, 4.8% for baked goods, 6.2% for chicken products and 4.9% for hamburgers. The stock trades at 22.9 times the $2.98 U.S. a share…