RESTAURANT BRANDS INTERNATIONAL INC. $43 - New York symbol QSR;

RESTAURANT BRANDS INTERNATIONAL INC. $43 (New York symbol QSR; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 467.1 million; Market cap: $20.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 14.2; Dividend yield: 0.8%.; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.rbi.com) took its current form on December 12, 2014, as a result of Burger King Worldwide’s (old symbol BKW) takeover of Tim Hortons Inc. (old symbol THI).

Restaurant Brands now has 14,372 Burger King restaurants and 4,671 Tim Hortons outlets in over 100 countries.

In the three months ended December 31, 2014, the company lost $514.2 million, or $2.52 a share, compared to a profit of $66.8 million, or $0.19, a year earlier. Without merger-related costs and other unusual items, gross earnings before depreciation, interest and taxes gained 23.1%.

Overall sales jumped 57.0%, to $416.3 million from $265.2 million a year earlier. Same-store sales rose 4.1% at Tim Hortons and 3.0% at Burger King.

Brazilian private equity firm 3G Capital owns 51% of Restaurant Brands. 3G has considerable experience acquiring and running food and beverage companies. It also cuts costs at the firms it buys, including through layoffs.

The company will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.09 a share, for a 0.8% annualized yield.

Restaurant Brands is a hold.

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