Competition may slow them down

Article Excerpt

RESTAURANT BRANDS INTERNATIONAL $64.46 (New York symbol QSR; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (905-845-6511; www.rbi.com; Shares o/s: 478.0 million; Market cap: $30.8 billion; Divd. yield: 3.1%) is the world’s third-largest fast-food operator after McDonald’s (No. 1) and Yum Brands (No. 2). It has 17,796 Burger King, 4,846 Tim Hortons (coffee and donuts) and 3,102 Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen (fried chicken) outlets in over 100 countries. In the quarter ended December 31, 2018, the company’s overall sales rose 12.2%, to $1.39 billion from $1.23 billion a year earlier. Same-store sales in the quarter improved 1.7% at Burger King and 1.9% at Tim Hortons. Same-store sales for Popeyes rose 0.1%. Growth was helped by new initiatives including delivery, in-store ordering kiosks and mobile apps. Excluding one-time items, the company earned $0.68 a share in the latest quarter. That’s a gain of 3.0% from $0.66. In April 2019, Restaurant Brands will raise its quarterly dividend by 11.1%. Investors will receive $0.50 a share instead of $0.45. The new annual rate of $2.00 yields…