HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 2,035 Shares of Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE:QSR)

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE:QSR) (TSE:QSR) by 22.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,005 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 2,035 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Restaurant Brands International were worth $457,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 68.6% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,181,459 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $229,545,000 after buying an additional 1,294,185 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 282.6% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,465,709 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $105,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082,622 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 10.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,379,847 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $101,085,000 after purchasing an additional 126,600 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Restaurant Brands International by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,331,392 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $86,780,000 after buying an additional 68,456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Restaurant Brands International in the third quarter worth about $89,790,000. 82.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on QSR shares. CIBC decreased their price target on shares of Restaurant Brands International from $86.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Restaurant Brands International from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Restaurant Brands International from $86.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Restaurant Brands International in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Restaurant Brands International from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Duncan Fulton sold 27,500 shares of Restaurant Brands International stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.66, for a total value of $1,778,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,251,590.52. The trade was a 44.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Sami A. Siddiqui sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.12, for a total transaction of $851,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 235,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,023,731.36. The trade was a 5.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 300,226 shares of company stock worth $19,121,223 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.36% of the company’s stock.

Restaurant Brands International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE QSR opened at $64.52 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $21.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.22. Restaurant Brands International Inc. has a 12 month low of $59.67 and a 12 month high of $79.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75.

Restaurant Brands International (NYSE:QSR) (TSE:QSR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts predict that Restaurant Brands International Inc. will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Restaurant Brands International Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This is a boost from Restaurant Brands International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.84%. Restaurant Brands International’s payout ratio is presently 77.99%.

Restaurant Brands International Company Profile

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.