Short Interest in Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (NYSE:DPZ) Increases By 10.3%

Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (NYSE:DPZ – Get Rating) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,610,000 shares, an increase of 10.3% from the January 31st total of 1,460,000 shares. Currently, 4.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 624,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Domino’s Pizza Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of DPZ stock opened at $304.76 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $342.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $349.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.76. Domino’s Pizza has a fifty-two week low of $291.00 and a fifty-two week high of $426.44.

Domino’s Pizza (NYSE:DPZ – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The restaurant operator reported $4.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.51. Domino’s Pizza had a net margin of 9.97% and a negative return on equity of 10.71%. The company had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.25 EPS. Domino’s Pizza’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Domino’s Pizza will post 13.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Domino’s Pizza Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be given a $1.21 dividend. 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. This represents a $4.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. Domino’s Pizza’s payout ratio is 35.09%.

Insider Activity at Domino’s Pizza

In other news, Director Patricia E. Lopez sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Domino’s Pizza

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. General Partner Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Domino’s Pizza during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Twin Lakes Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Domino’s Pizza during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new stake in Domino’s Pizza during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Luken Investment Analytics LLC purchased a new position in shares of Domino’s Pizza in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Domino’s Pizza by 41.7% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 136 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DPZ. Gordon Haskett downgraded Domino’s Pizza from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $344.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Domino’s Pizza in a research note on Monday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $360.00 price target for the company. Citigroup lowered shares of Domino’s Pizza from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $429.00 to $316.00 in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Domino’s Pizza from $415.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Finally, Cowen reduced their target price on Domino’s Pizza from $362.00 to $320.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $363.04.

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.