Restaurant Brands International (NYSE:QSR) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Argus

Argus cut shares of Restaurant Brands International (NYSE:QSR) (TSE:QSR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

QSR has been the topic of several other research reports. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Restaurant Brands International from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Restaurant Brands International from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Restaurant Brands International from $83.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Restaurant Brands International from $80.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Restaurant Brands International from $93.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Restaurant Brands International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.96.

Restaurant Brands International Price Performance

Restaurant Brands International stock opened at $64.53 on Thursday. Restaurant Brands International has a 12-month low of $59.67 and a 12-month high of $83.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $64.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.94 billion, a PE ratio of 16.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.93.

Restaurant Brands International (NYSE:QSR) (TSE:QSR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.29). Restaurant Brands International had a return on equity of 28.25% and a net margin of 16.01%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Restaurant Brands International will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Restaurant Brands International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This is a positive change 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 dividend yield of 3.84%. Restaurant Brands International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Sami A. Siddiqui sold 5,579 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.20, for a total value of $358,171.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,750,477.20. This represents a 16.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jill Granat sold 10,613 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.41, for a total value of $747,261.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 388,759 shares in the company, valued at $27,372,521.19. The trade was a 2.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 113,510 shares of company stock valued at $7,774,020. 1.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Restaurant Brands International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in Restaurant Brands International by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 11,098 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $723,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. One68 Global Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Restaurant Brands International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $697,000. Guardian Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Guardian Capital LP now owns 1,308,057 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $85,212,000 after purchasing an additional 34,336 shares during the last quarter. Utah Retirement Systems lifted its position in Restaurant Brands International by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 35,801 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,332,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perbak Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in Restaurant Brands International by 48.4% during the fourth quarter. Perbak Capital Partners LLP now owns 25,758 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,679,000 after buying an additional 8,404 shares in the last quarter. 82.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.