Morgan Stanley Cuts Restaurant Brands International (NYSE:QSR) Price Target to $73.00

Restaurant Brands International (NYSE:QSR) (TSE:QSR) had its target price cut by Morgan Stanley from $81.00 to $73.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Restaurant Brands International from $86.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. KeyCorp dropped 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 note on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Restaurant Brands International from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Restaurant Brands International from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Restaurant Brands International from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Restaurant Brands International currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.08.

Restaurant Brands International Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Restaurant Brands International stock opened at $61.52 on Tuesday. Restaurant Brands International has a 1 year low of $59.85 and a 1 year high of $83.29. The company has a market capitalization of $19.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.94. 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 Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th were paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. Restaurant Brands International’s payout ratio is 58.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jill Granat sold 81,387 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.37, for a total transaction of $5,645,816.19. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 388,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,968,211.83. This trade represents a 17.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Thiago T. Santelmo sold 3,511 shares of Restaurant Brands International stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.20, for a total transaction of $225,406.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,114,555.40. This trade represents a 9.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 113,510 shares of company stock worth $7,774,020. 1.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Restaurant Brands International

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in QSR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Restaurant Brands International by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 650,486 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $45,772,000 after purchasing an additional 10,855 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 3.6% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 11,264 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $793,000 after buying an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 13.3% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,193 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $577,000 after buying an additional 960 shares during the last quarter. RDST Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 14.1% during the second quarter. RDST Capital LLC now owns 600,021 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $42,223,000 after acquiring an additional 73,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 433,185 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,528,000 after acquiring an additional 17,175 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.29% 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.