Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO)

(A Top Pick Sept 11/15. Up 11.72%.) A core holding. He really likes this business. It is very hard to find a business that is growing its top line and also cutting costs at the same time. Tim Hortons is growing in the US and internationally with same-store sales at about 5%. Burger King is growing in the US. Yield is a little low, so he quite often sells Covered Calls which generates a little extra income.

A terrific business and a terrific brand, but not cheap. His numbers show it trading at north of 30X earnings. Too expensive for what he would look at.

A very well-run company. It is hard to argue with what they have accomplished. They know how to focus on franchise economics so that the store owner makes more money, opens more units, more sales, etc. It is a virtual circle. He likes what they are doing.

Owns Tim Horton’s and Burger King and just makes money off all their franchises. A very juicy business from a cash flow basis. The balance sheet is elevated, but they’ll de-lever again. He has a hard time paying 22X earnings for a business, and would rather wait until they de-lever a little or when the market is trading back down.

This was a merger through the purchase of Tim Hortons by Burger King. An interesting story, has looked at it over the last little while. Management is very smart and have the ability to grow the Burger King franchise globally. Thinks there is good upside. Have cut costs a lot. Not cheap at about 28X forward earnings, but you have to believe that they are going to be able to execute very well, as they have done in the past.

(A Top Pick Feb 2/15. Up 0.99%.) This owns Tim Hortons and Burger King. He likes the young team that is running this company. Tim Hortons is actually making headway now in certain parts of middle America.

Lots of exposure to the US consumer and in the rest of the developed world. Oil prices going down frees up money for discretionary spending. Management is laser beam focused on costs. It is off recently. You have a good brand in Tims and an okay brand in Burger King. It is an attractive stock.

This is the umbrella for Tim Hortons and Burger King. Thinks they have done a lot of cost cutting in Canada. This is too highly priced for her as she is more of a value oriented investor.

Last week they closed a couple of outlets in Maine (21 locations globally). The stock is not cheap. He prefers other, cheaper alternatives.

A good Buy. In restaurant space, valuation isn’t cheap. This is no exception, but their track record of wringing value of assets is very strong. There is obviously some cross selling opportunities and some abilities to consolidate.

They have been performing well, putting up good same store sales. They are making a concerted effort to grow the Tim’s brand outside of North America. It is not cheap, however. If it got really beat up in a market selloff he would take a really good look at it.

A straight forward chart. It is going sideways. You buy as it bounces of the $45 support range. It has resistance of $50 and then $55-7 earlier.

(A Top Pick Sept 11/15. Up 8.12%.) Had felt that the market was going to turn around, so he looked for solid businesses. Last quarter they grew sales per store by 5% on Tim Horton and 6% on Burger King. Very smart management team. A good place to put some money.

They are great operators and are cost effective. He thinks they will execute well.

In this market, you want to own earnings growth and this is a company that will continue to deliver it. Traditionally this was not managed for costs, but they got the costs down to half of what it originally was at Burger King, and will do the same thing at Tim Hortons. They were also able to open 2000 Burger King locations in 4 years internationally, and will do the same thing with Tim’s. Dividend yield of 1.31%.