Bridgewater Associates LP Sells 165,101 Shares of Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE:QSR)

Bridgewater Associates LP lowered its stake in shares of Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE:QSR) (TSE:QSR) by 73.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 60,507 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 165,101 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Restaurant Brands International were worth $3,942,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Restaurant Brands International in the 4th quarter valued at $264,813,000. Baupost Group LLC MA grew its stake in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 10,155.5% in the 4th quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 2,901,700 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $189,133,000 after acquiring an additional 2,873,406 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 165.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 715,754 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,847,805 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $123,137,000 after purchasing an additional 467,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,165,498 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $858,101,000 after purchasing an additional 421,873 shares in the last quarter. 82.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Restaurant Brands International Stock Up 1.6 %

QSR stock opened at $63.23 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $20.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.02. The business’s 50-day moving average is $65.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.51. Restaurant Brands International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.71 and a fifty-two week high of $77.24.

Restaurant Brands International (NYSE:QSR) (TSE:QSR) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 12.15% and a return on equity of 28.53%. As a group, analysts forecast that Restaurant Brands International Inc. will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Restaurant Brands International Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st were paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. This is a positive change from Restaurant Brands International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 21st. Restaurant Brands International’s dividend payout ratio is 77.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

QSR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Restaurant Brands International from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Restaurant Brands International from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Restaurant Brands International from $81.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of 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. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Restaurant Brands International currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Sami A. Siddiqui sold 12,500 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 235,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,023,731.36. This represents a 5.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Joshua Kobza sold 93,619 shares of Restaurant Brands International stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.35, for a total transaction of $5,837,144.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 848,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,908,838.30. This trade represents a 9.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 278,716 shares of company stock valued at $17,740,281. 1.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.