Cannell & Spears LLC Has $23.64 Million Stock Position in Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE:QSR)

Cannell & Spears LLC cut its holdings in shares of Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE:QSR) (TSE:QSR) by 16.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 362,611 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 72,331 shares during the quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC’s holdings in Restaurant Brands International were worth $23,635,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of QSR. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Restaurant Brands International by 4.5% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 9,486 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $685,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 707,707 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $51,122,000 after purchasing an additional 30,035 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 28.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,767 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $993,000 after purchasing an additional 3,067 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 8,412 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 17.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,754 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

QSR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Restaurant Brands International from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Restaurant Brands International from $80.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Restaurant Brands International in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of 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 research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.08.

Insider Activity at Restaurant Brands International

In other news, insider Thiago T. Santelmo sold 3,511 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.20, for a total value of $225,406.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,114,555.40. The trade was a 9.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Joshua Kobza sold 12,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.20, for a total transaction of $797,364.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 703,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,161,169. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 300,226 shares of company stock worth $19,121,223 in the last ninety days. 1.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Restaurant Brands International Trading Down 6.1 %

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

Restaurant Brands International (NYSE:QSR) (TSE:QSR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.29). Restaurant Brands International had a return on equity of 28.53% and a net margin of 12.15%. Equities analysts anticipate that Restaurant Brands International Inc. will post 3.72 EPS for the current 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 a boost from Restaurant Brands International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. Restaurant Brands International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.99%.

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.