McDonald's: The Crowd Sold The King, I'm Underwriting The Throne

Summary McDonald's has achieved Dividend King status with its 50th consecutive annual dividend increase, now offering a 3% yield at a six-year high. MCD trades at its lowest forward multiple in over a decade after a sharp selloff, despite robust margins and growing loyalty-driven sales. Technical and seasonal backtests indicate a strong probability of a 7% gap-fill ROI and historically positive returns in midterm election years. I recommend selling Nov. 20 at-the-money puts, targeting a 12% annualized return, while monitoring risks from US traffic declines and capex trends. KreangchaiRungfamai/iStock Editorial via Getty Images McDonald's ( MCD ) just got a dividend raise of 4%. This dividend raise is the company's 50th consecutive annual raise. Watch out Burger King, because unlike you, which is a king in name only, McDonald's is now officially a This article was written by Damon Verial 18.13K Followers Follow Damon Verial is a statistical analyst who uses his skills to research stocks, options, and investment strategies. In addition, Damon is the writer of Copy My Trades, a trade-alert, subscription-based newsletter, available at his personal website. . Damon makes his living as a gap trader, an earnings trader, and an interday trader. In his free time, he writes for Seeking Alpha, where he focuses on seasonal investing, market timing, and earnings analyses. . Damon has written several successful stock analysis algorithms, including algorithms that can predict gap closure, intraday patterns, and news overreactions. They will soon be publically available for subscribers. .Damon’s undergraduate education was in statistics and mathematics at the University of Washington; his graduate education was in psychology at National Taiwan University. He currently lives in Fukuoka, Japan. Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of MCD either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.