First step outside North America

Article Excerpt

TIM HORTONS INC. $49 (New York symbol THI; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 166.9 million; Market cap: $8.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.0; Dividend yield: 1.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.timhortons.com) operates 3,148 coffee-and-donut stores in Canada, plus a further 602 in the U.S. The company recently announced its first expansion outside North America. Dubai-based Apparel Group will open up to 120 Tim Hortons outlets in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman in the next five years. The recent wave of political unrest in the Middle East could hinder this expansion. However, Apparel will own and operate these outlets, so Tim Hortons’ risk is low. Tim Hortons is a buy. buy…