Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Sells 572,829 Shares of Restaurant Brands International Inc. $QSR

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership trimmed its position in Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE:QSR) (TSE:QSR) by 53.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 489,232 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 572,829 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.15% of Restaurant Brands International worth $32,463,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Westerkirk Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Restaurant Brands International in the second quarter worth $1,100,000. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 24,623 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,632,000 after buying an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Restaurant Brands International by 90.4% during the 2nd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 863,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $58,575,000 after buying an additional 409,934 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund acquired a new stake in Restaurant Brands International during the 2nd quarter worth $8,585,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Restaurant Brands International during the second quarter worth about $254,948,000. Institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on QSR. Northcoast Research downgraded Restaurant Brands International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Restaurant Brands International from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley set a $77.00 target price on shares of Restaurant Brands International in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Restaurant Brands International in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Restaurant Brands International from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Restaurant Brands International presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.23.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman J Patrick Doyle sold 43,597 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.80, for a total transaction of $3,043,070.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 193,855 shares in the company, valued at $13,531,079. This represents a 18.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ali Hedayat sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.77, for a total value of $509,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,379,864.74. The trade was a 26.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.25% of the company’s stock.

Restaurant Brands International Trading Up 2.1%

NYSE QSR opened at $73.46 on Friday. Restaurant Brands International Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.71 and a 52 week high of $73.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $68.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.14, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.60.

Restaurant Brands International (NYSE:QSR) (TSE:QSR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.39 billion. Restaurant Brands International had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 32.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Restaurant Brands International Inc. will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Restaurant Brands International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 23rd will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 23rd. Restaurant Brands International’s payout ratio is presently 88.26%.

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.