Domino’s Pizza (NYSE:DPZ) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Domino’s Pizza (NYSE:DPZ – Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

DPZ has been the topic of a number of other reports. Citigroup cut shares of Domino’s Pizza from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price target for the company from $429.00 to $316.00 in a report on Friday, February 24th. Wedbush lowered their price target on shares of Domino’s Pizza from $400.00 to $365.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 24th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Domino’s Pizza from $405.00 to $375.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Domino’s Pizza from $351.00 to $334.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Domino’s Pizza from $430.00 to $405.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $361.12.

Domino’s Pizza Stock Performance

NYSE DPZ opened at $310.67 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $335.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $343.80. Domino’s Pizza has a one year low of $291.00 and a one year high of $426.44.

Domino’s Pizza (NYSE:DPZ – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The restaurant operator reported $4.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. Domino’s Pizza had a net margin of 9.97% and a negative return on equity of 10.71%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.25 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Domino’s Pizza will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Domino’s Pizza Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.21 per share. This represents a $4.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. This is a positive change from Domino’s Pizza’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 14th. Domino’s Pizza’s payout ratio is 38.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Patricia E. Lopez sold 244 shares of Domino’s Pizza stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.93, for a total transaction of $85,870.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $534,581.67. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Cynthia A. Headen sold 136 shares of Domino’s Pizza stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $40,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,460,100. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Patricia E. Lopez sold 244 shares of Domino’s Pizza stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.93, for a total transaction of $85,870.92. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $534,581.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Domino’s Pizza

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Domino’s Pizza in the 4th quarter worth $369,800,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Domino’s Pizza by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,414,976 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $941,140,000 after acquiring an additional 319,545 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Domino’s Pizza by 23.4% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,616,607 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $559,993,000 after acquiring an additional 306,750 shares in the last quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Domino’s Pizza in the 3rd quarter worth $93,936,000. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Domino’s Pizza by 966.0% in the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 289,535 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $100,295,000 after acquiring an additional 262,373 shares in the last quarter. 90.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Domino’s Pizza

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Domino’s Pizza, Inc engages in the management of a network of company-owned and franchise-owned pizza stores. It operates through the following segments: U.S. Stores, International Franchise, and Supply Chain. The U.S. Stores segment consists primarily of franchise operations. The International Franchise segment comprises a network of franchised stores.