Topic: Growth Stocks

TIM HORTONS $52.70 – Toronto symbol THI

TIM HORTONS $52.70 (Toronto symbol THI; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (905-845-6511; www.timhortons.com; Shares outstanding: 157.4 million; Market cap: $8.3 billion; Dividend yield: 1.6%) is using its strong earnings to keep expanding. It’s also raising its dividend and buying back shares.

Tim Hortons operates 3,295 coffee-and-donut stores in Canada and 714 in the U.S. That’s up from 3,148 Canadian outlets and 602 U.S. stores a year ago.

The company’s earnings per share before one-time items rose 25.8% in the latest quarter, to $0.65 from $0.52 a year earlier. Sales rose 21.2%, to $779.8 million from $643.5 million.

Tim Hortons has raised its quarterly dividend by 23.5%, to $0.21 a share from $0.17. The new rate yields 1.6%. The company is also buying back up to 1.2 million of its common shares from a private seller this month.

This move is part of its plan to buy back 13.7 million of its shares, or roughly 9% of the total outstanding, by March 4, 2013. Share buybacks raise earnings per share and other per-share calculations, and give the remaining shareholders a larger stake in the company.

Tim Hortons is still a buy.

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