Sami A. Siddiqui Sells 12,500 Shares of Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE:QSR) Stock

Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE:QSR) (TSE:QSR) CFO Sami A. Siddiqui sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.12, for a total transaction of $851,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 235,228 shares in the company, valued at $16,023,731.36. This represents a 5.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Restaurant Brands International Price Performance

Shares of Restaurant Brands International stock opened at $67.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.25. Restaurant Brands International Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.67 and a twelve month high of $80.02. The firm has a market cap of $21.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.95.

Restaurant Brands International (NYSE:QSR) (TSE:QSR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.29). Restaurant Brands International had a net margin of 12.15% and a return on equity of 28.53%. As a group, research analysts expect that Restaurant Brands International Inc. will post 3.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Restaurant Brands International Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This is an increase from Restaurant Brands International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. Restaurant Brands International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Restaurant Brands International

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Restaurant Brands International by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 43,418,188 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,829,974,000 after purchasing an additional 841,167 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Restaurant Brands International by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,165,498 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $858,101,000 after purchasing an additional 421,873 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Restaurant Brands International by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 12,819,570 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $834,478,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695,071 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Restaurant Brands International during the 4th quarter valued at about $264,813,000. Finally, Meritage Group LP lifted its holdings in Restaurant Brands International by 5,795.9% during the 4th quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 3,301,689 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $215,204,000 after purchasing an additional 3,245,689 shares during the last quarter. 82.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on QSR. TD Cowen lowered shares of Restaurant Brands International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Restaurant Brands International from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Restaurant Brands International from $81.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Restaurant Brands International from $86.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Restaurant Brands International from $80.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Restaurant Brands International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.08.

About Restaurant Brands International

Restaurant Brands International Inc operates as a quick-service restaurant company in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Tim Hortons (TH), Burger King (BK), Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen (PLK), and Firehouse Subs (FHS). The company owns and franchises TH chain of donut/coffee/tea restaurants that offer blend coffee, tea, and espresso-based hot and cold specialty drinks; and fresh baked goods, including donuts, Timbits, bagels, muffins, cookies and pastries, grilled paninis, classic sandwiches, wraps, soups, and other food products.