Ellsworth Advisors LLC Has $987,000 Stock Holdings in Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE:QSR)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE:QSR) (TSE:QSR) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,627 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 1,068 shares during the quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Restaurant Brands International were worth $987,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 1.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,781,047 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $784,853,000 after buying an additional 203,594 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 5.6% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,345,692 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $290,287,000 after buying an additional 228,654 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 0.7% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 3,235,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $215,429,000 after buying an additional 21,544 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp increased its stake in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 7.6% in the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,952,458 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $197,157,000 after buying an additional 207,609 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 4.2% in the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,799,932 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $187,276,000 after buying an additional 113,946 shares in the last quarter. 82.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

QSR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on Restaurant Brands International from $83.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Restaurant Brands International from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 30th. TD Cowen reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Restaurant Brands International in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Restaurant Brands International from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, CIBC lowered their price objective on Restaurant Brands International from $88.00 to $87.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.30.

Insider Activity

In other Restaurant Brands International news, insider Thomas Benjamin Curtis sold 2,682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.55, for a total value of $205,307.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 23,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,785,299.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Restaurant Brands International news, CFO Matthew Dunnigan sold 8,275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.55, for a total value of $633,451.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 33,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,550,033.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Thomas Benjamin Curtis sold 2,682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.55, for a total value of $205,307.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,785,299.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 408,792 shares of company stock worth $31,016,900 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.25% of the company’s stock.

Restaurant Brands International Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:QSR traded up $0.34 during trading on Friday, hitting $79.45. 831,960 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,481,557. Restaurant Brands International Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.77 and a 52 week high of $83.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.78. The company has a market cap of $25.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $78.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.10.

Restaurant Brands International (NYSE:QSR) (TSE:QSR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.02. Restaurant Brands International had a return on equity of 32.20% and a net margin of 16.95%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. Restaurant Brands International’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Restaurant Brands International Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Restaurant Brands International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 20th. This is a boost from Restaurant Brands International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Restaurant Brands International’s payout ratio is 61.54%.

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.