Key Points
- Insider sale: Jill Granat sold 25,000 shares on March 16 at an average price of $74.76 for proceeds of $1,869,000, and has also sold additional lots on Mar 18, Feb 23 and Jan 7, reducing her stake to 478,845 shares (a 4.96% decline).
- Broader insider activity: Multiple senior executives (including the CEO and CFO) sold large blocks this week—roughly 330,000 shares total—raising potential near‑term downside concerns for some investors.
- Dividend and results: RBI raised its quarterly dividend to $0.65 (annualized $2.60, ~3.5% yield; ex‑dividend Mar 19) and reported a quarterly EPS beat ($0.96 vs. $0.93) with revenue of $2.47B, signaling modest operational strength.
Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE:QSR - Get Free Report) (TSE:QSR) insider Thiago Santelmo sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.41, for a total value of $754,100.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 78,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,924,209.60. This trade represents a 11.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.
Restaurant Brands International Stock Down 0.9%
Shares of NYSE:QSR opened at $74.37 on Thursday. Restaurant Brands International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.71 and a fifty-two week high of $75.57. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $69.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.34. The stock has a market cap of $25.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.62.
Restaurant Brands International (NYSE:QSR - Get Free Report) (TSE:QSR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. Restaurant Brands International had a net margin of 8.23% and a return on equity of 32.51%. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Restaurant Brands International Inc. will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Restaurant Brands International Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 19th. This is an increase from Restaurant Brands International's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Restaurant Brands International's dividend payout ratio is 105.08%.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Restaurant Brands International by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 43,525,570 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,969,819,000 after acquiring an additional 3,095,167 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 16,645,003 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,135,844,000 after purchasing an additional 1,741,795 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Restaurant Brands International by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,983,585 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,090,684,000 after buying an additional 344,066 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Restaurant Brands International by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,429,121 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $575,119,000 after buying an additional 1,641,870 shares during the period. Finally, Baupost Group LLC MA increased its holdings in Restaurant Brands International by 103.8% in the third quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 8,252,862 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $529,337,000 after buying an additional 4,203,300 shares in the last quarter. 82.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages have weighed in on QSR. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Restaurant Brands International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Restaurant Brands International from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Restaurant Brands International in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Argus raised shares of Restaurant Brands International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Restaurant Brands International from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $71.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Restaurant Brands International has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.19.
Get Our Latest Report on QSR
Key Stories Impacting Restaurant Brands International
Here are the key news stories impacting Restaurant Brands International this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Unusually large bullish options activity — traders bought 273,975 call options on Wednesday (a ~22,468% jump vs. typical volume), indicating speculative expectations of near‑term upside or hedging by institutional players.
- Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade/raise — Oppenheimer bumped its price target to $85 and assigned an "outperform" rating, signaling incremental sell‑side conviction (14.3% upside to the current price). Article Title
- Positive Sentiment: Dividend increase — RBI raised the quarterly dividend to $0.65 (annualized $2.60, ~3.5% yield) with an ex‑dividend date of March 19 and payment April 2; this supports income‑oriented demand for the shares. Article Title
- Neutral Sentiment: Analyst consensus and price targets — broker coverage is mixed but generally constructive: average target ≈ $78.95 with more Buys than Holds (moderate buy consensus). This implies modest upside vs. the current level.
- Neutral Sentiment: High institutional ownership — ~82.3% of shares are held by institutions, which can mute volatility but also cause heavier moves when funds rebalance.
- Negative Sentiment: Significant insider selling — multiple insiders (including CEO Joshua Kobza, CFO Sami Siddiqui and other senior officers) sold large blocks this week: roughly 330,000 shares sold across transactions (CEO sale alone: 200,000 at ~$75.05). Large, concentrated insider exits can create near‑term downward pressure and raise questions for some investors about timing of sales. See filings/insider summary for details. Article Title
About Restaurant Brands International
(
Get Free Report)
Restaurant Brands International Inc (NYSE: QSR) is a global quick-service restaurant company formed through the combination of established brands. The company's principal holdings include Burger King, Tim Hortons and Popeyes, each of which operates under its own brand identity and menu. Restaurant Brands International's business is centered on developing and expanding these franchised restaurant systems, supporting franchisees with brand management, supply chain coordination, and marketing programs.
RBI's restaurants offer a range of quick-service food and beverage products: Burger King is known for its flame-grilled hamburgers and sandwiches, Tim Hortons for coffee, baked goods and breakfast items, and Popeyes for Louisiana-style fried chicken and seafood.
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