Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Position in Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE:QSR)

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in shares of Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE:QSR - Free Report) TSE: QSR by 22.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,498,494 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 438,971 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.46% of Restaurant Brands International worth $97,618,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Restaurant Brands International during the 4th quarter valued at $264,813,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 165.3% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,148,850 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $74,802,000 after buying an additional 715,754 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Restaurant Brands International by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,847,805 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $123,137,000 after buying an additional 467,958 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Restaurant Brands International by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,165,498 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $858,101,000 after buying an additional 421,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Restaurant Brands International during the 4th quarter valued at about $19,243,000. 82.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Restaurant Brands International in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup increased their price target on Restaurant Brands International from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Restaurant Brands International from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Restaurant Brands International from $80.00 to $78.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Restaurant Brands International has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $76.63.

Restaurant Brands International Price Performance

QSR stock traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $62.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 250,107 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,837,961. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75. Restaurant Brands International Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.71 and a 12 month high of $77.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $65.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.72.

Restaurant Brands International (NYSE:QSR - Get Free Report) TSE: QSR last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 28.53% and a net margin of 12.15%. On average, analysts expect that Restaurant Brands International Inc. will post 3.72 EPS for the current year.

Restaurant Brands International Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st were issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. This is a boost from Restaurant Brands International's previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 21st. Restaurant Brands International's payout ratio is 77.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 value of $851,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 235,228 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,023,731.36. This trade represents a 5.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Duncan Fulton sold 27,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.66, for a total transaction of $1,778,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,822 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,251,590.52. The trade was a 44.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 278,716 shares of company stock worth $17,740,281. Corporate insiders own 1.36% of the company's stock.

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.