Market Update (NYSE:MCD): France bills McDonald’s $341 million for unpaid tax: report

[Reuters] – French authorities have sent McDonald’s France a 300 million euro ($341 million) bill for unpaid taxes on profits believed to have been funneled through Luxembourg and Switzerland, business magazine L’Expansion reported on Tuesday. It said tax officials had accused the giant U.S. burger chain of using a Luxembourg-based entity, McD Europe Franchising, to shift profits to lower-tax jurisdictions by billing the French division excessively for use of the company brand and other services. McDonald’s France declined to comment on developments in the ongoing French tax investigation, first reported in 2014. Read more on this. McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) , with a current value of $116.18B, opened at $128.91. Looking at the stock, its one day range is $128.12 to $129.35 with a one year range of $87.50 to $129.35. MCD shares are currently priced at 23.77x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry’s 23.13x earnings multiple for the same period. And for dividend hunters, the company pays shareholders $3.56 per share annually in dividends, yielding 2.79%. Consensus earnings for the current quarter by the 27 sell-side analysts covering the stock is an estimate of $1.16 per share, which would be $0.15 better than the year-ago quarter and a $0.01 sequential increase. Investors should also note that the full-year EPS estimate of $5.42 is a $0.44 improvement when compared to the previous year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $5.80 Billion. If realized, that would be a 2.68% decrease over the year-ago quarter. In terms of ratings, Longbow Initiated MCD at Neutral (Mar 18, 2016). Previously, Argus upgraded MCD from Hold to Buy. Given all the information above, we should disclose to readers that the average price target is $127.23, which is 1.30% below than it opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:MCD) Similar Articles: Company Update: McDonalds Corporation (NYSE:MCD) – McDonald’s to add more than 1,500 outlets in China, HK, Korea Company Update: McDonalds Corporation (NYSE:MCD) – McDonald’s Celebrates Friendship by Sending 100 Kids From Around the World to Be in the Rio 2016 Olympics Opening Ceremony Market Update: McDonalds Corporation (NYSE:MCD) – EU set to investigate McDonald’s tax deal with Luxembourg -sources