How to buy McDonalds (MCD) shares in the UK

McDonald's Corporation (MCD) is a leading restaurants business based in the US. It opened the day at $234.07 after a previous close of $232.84. During the day the price has varied from a low of $233.06 to a high of $236.22. The latest price was $235.86 (25 minute delay). McDonalds is listed on the NYSE and employs 200,000 staff. All prices are listed in US Dollars.

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How has coronavirus impacted McDonalds's share price?

Since the stock market crash that started in February 2020, McDonalds's share price has had significant positive movement.

Its last market close was $233.38, which is 7.50% up on its pre-crash value of $215.87 and 87.86% up on the lowest point reached during the March 2020 crash when the shares fell as low as $124.23.

If you had bought $1,000 worth of McDonalds shares at the start of February 2020, those shares would have been worth $637.52 at the bottom of the March crash, and if you held on to them, then as of the last market close they'd be worth $1,085.22.

McDonalds share price (NYSE:MCD)

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Fees for buying 5x McDonalds shares with popular platforms

Both exchange rates and share prices fluctuate in real time, so the costs presented here should be considered as a guide only. They do not incorporate stamp duty. Always refer to the platform itself for availability and pricing – which may differ from our information.

Platform	Platform fee	Min. initial deposit	Trading fee estimate
	£0	$200	£4.28 £860.81 total	Go to site Capital at risk
	£0	No minimum	£8.57 £865.09 total	Go to site Capital at risk
	£0	No minimum	£3.85 £860.38 total	Go to site Capital at risk
	£0	£0.01	£1.30 £857.82 total	Go to site Capital at risk
	£0	£50	£4.30 £860.82 total	Go to site Capital at risk
	£0	£1	£20.53 £877.06 total	Go to site Capital at risk
	£9.99 per month	No minimum	£20.85 £877.38 total	Go to site Capital at risk
	£36 per year	£20	£20.22 £876.75 total	Read review Capital at risk

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Is it a good time to buy McDonalds stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Is McDonalds under- or over-valued?

Valuing a stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge value.

P/E ratio

McDonalds's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 34x. In other words, McDonalds shares trade at around 34x recent earnings.

That's relatively high compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The high P/E ratio could mean that investors are optimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're over-valued.

However, McDonalds's P/E ratio is best considered in relation to those of others within the restaurants industry or those of similar companies.

• Dominos Pizza Group (DOM.LSE): 46.76
• Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG.US): 112.60

PEG ratio

McDonalds's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 2.3282. A PEG ratio over 1 can be interpreted as meaning shares are overvalued at the current rate of growth, or may anticipate an acceleration in growth.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into McDonalds's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

However, it's sensible to consider McDonalds's PEG ratio in relation to those of similar companies.

• Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG.US): 1.93

EBITDA

McDonalds's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is a whopping $9.3 billion (£6.7 billion).

The EBITDA is a measure of a McDonalds's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

To put that into context you can compare it against similar companies.

• Dominos Pizza Group (DOM.LSE): £103.5 million
• Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG.US): USD$657.1 million

How to short and sell McDonalds shares

1. Create a CFD or spread betting account.
2. Search for the stock code. E.g. "MCD.US"
3. Choose your position size.
4. Select "sell" rather than "buy".
5. Confirm your position and keep tabs on it. You may wish to set limits on your position.

There are currently 5.5 million McDonalds shares held short by investors – that's known as the "short interest". This figure is 4.1% down from 5.7 million last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting McDonalds shares can be evaluated.

Short interest ratio (SIR)

McDonalds's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of McDonalds shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of McDonalds shares traded daily (recently around 2.4 million). McDonalds's SIR currently stands at 2.29. In other words for every 100,000 McDonalds shares traded daily on the market, roughly 2290 shares are currently held short.

To gain some more context, you can compare McDonalds's short interest ratio against those of similar companies.

• Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG.US): 2.54

However McDonalds's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of McDonalds shares, or, against the total number of tradable McDonalds shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case McDonalds's short interest could be expressed as 0.01% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 McDonalds shares in existence, roughly 10 shares are currently held short) or 0.0074% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable McDonalds shares, roughly 7 shares are currently held short).

Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against McDonalds.

Find out more about how you can short McDonalds stock.

Environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like McDonalds.

Total ESG risk score

McDonalds's total ESG risk: 22.47

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and McDonalds's overall score of 22.47 (as at 12/31/2018) is pretty good – landing it in it in the 35th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like McDonalds is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

To gain some more context, you can compare McDonalds's total ESG risk score against those of similar companies.

• Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG.US): 28.83

Environmental score

McDonalds's environmental score: 2.17/100

McDonalds's environmental score of 2.17 puts it squarely in the 2nd percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that McDonalds is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Social score

McDonalds's social score: 14.15/100

McDonalds's social score of 14.15 puts it squarely in the 2nd percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that McDonalds is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.

Governance score

McDonalds's governance score: 5.15/100

McDonalds's governance score puts it squarely in the 2nd percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that McDonalds is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Controversy score

McDonalds's controversy score: 3/5

ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. A high-profile company, McDonalds scored a 3 out of 5 for controversy – a middle-of-the-table result reflecting that McDonalds hasn't always managed to keep its nose clean.

Wondering how that compares? Below are the controversy scores of similar companies.

• Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG.US): 3

McDonalds share dividends

• Dividend yield
• Forward yield
• Payout ratio

McDonalds has recently paid out dividends equivalent to 2.14% of its share value annually.

McDonalds has paid out, on average, around 78.77% of recent net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 2.18% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), shareholders could enjoy a 2.18% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In McDonalds's case, that would currently equate to about $5.08 per share.

McDonalds's payout ratio would broadly be considered high, and as such this stock could appeal to those looking to generate an income. Bear in mind however that companies should normally also look to re-invest a decent amount of net profits to ensure future growth.

McDonalds's most recent dividend payout was on 14 June 2021. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 27 May 2021 (the "ex-dividend date").

McDonalds's dividend yield is perhaps best considered in relation to those of similar companies.

• Dominos Pizza Group (DOM.LSE): 3.58% (3.79% forward annual dividend yield)
• Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG.US): 0.00% (does not pay dividend)

Have McDonalds's shares ever split?

McDonalds's shares were split on a 2:1 basis on 7 March 1999. So if you had owned 1 share the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 2 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your McDonalds shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 50% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for McDonalds shares which in turn could have impacted McDonalds's share price.

Share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, McDonalds's shares have ranged in value from as little as $185.9669 up to $239.05. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE average) beta is 1, while McDonalds's is 0.623. This would suggest that McDonalds's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).

To put McDonalds's beta into context you can compare it against those of similar companies.

• Dominos Pizza Group (DOM.LSE): 0.686
• Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG.US): 1.3504

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McDonalds in the news

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September 3rd Options Now Available For McDonald`s

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of McDonalds is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 0.052% of McDonalds shares are held by insiders and 68.869% by institutions.

• How many people work for McDonalds?

  Latest data suggests 200,000 work at McDonalds.

• When does the fiscal year end for McDonalds?

  McDonalds's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is McDonalds based?

  McDonalds's address is: 110 North Carpenter Street, Chicago, IL, United States, 60607

• What is McDonalds's ISIN number?

  McDonalds's international securities identification number is: US5801351017

• What is McDonalds's CUSIP number?

  McDonalds's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 580135101