Saturday, June 16, 2018

Zacks Investment Research Lowers Domino’s Pizza (DPZ) to Hold

Domino’s Pizza (NYSE:DPZ) was downgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

According to Zacks, “Domino's shares have outpaced the industry in a year’s time owing to better-than-expected results in seven out of the trailing eight quarters. In first-quarter 2018, the company’s earnings and revenues not only surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate but also surged sharply on a year-over-year basis. Notably, the first quarter marked the company’s respective 28th and 97th consecutive quarter of positive same-store sales domestically and internationally. Meanwhile, we believe that Domino's solid brand positioning might continue to boost sales in the upcoming quarters. Also, efforts to accelerate its presence in the high-growth international markets bode well. Moving ahead, Domino's initiatives on the digital front, increased store counts, focus on re-imaging and other sales-boosting strategies are expected to help sustain the momentum. However, higher costs and negative currency translation are likely to hurt profits.”

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DPZ has been the topic of several other reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Domino’s Pizza from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. ValuEngine raised shares of Domino’s Pizza from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 11th. Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $275.00 price target on shares of Domino’s Pizza in a research note on Friday, April 27th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Domino’s Pizza from $217.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Domino’s Pizza from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Domino’s Pizza currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $256.57.

Shares of NYSE:DPZ opened at $277.34 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of -1.12, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.39. Domino’s Pizza has a 12-month low of $166.74 and a 12-month high of $277.36. The firm has a market cap of $11.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.94, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.35.

Domino’s Pizza (NYSE:DPZ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 26th. The restaurant operator reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.23. Domino’s Pizza had a net margin of 10.32% and a negative return on equity of 11.97%. The company had revenue of $785.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.15 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 25.8% on a year-over-year basis. sell-side analysts forecast that Domino’s Pizza will post 8.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Domino’s Pizza declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 20th that allows the company to buyback $750.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

In other Domino’s Pizza news, insider J Patrick Doyle sold 20,842 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.42, for a total transaction of $5,511,041.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,523,241.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 3.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in Domino’s Pizza by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 1,281 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in Domino’s Pizza by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 2,879 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $544,000 after buying an additional 848 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in Domino’s Pizza by 83.2% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,573,333 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $297,297,000 after buying an additional 714,414 shares during the last quarter. Waratah Capital Advisors Ltd. acquired a new position in Domino’s Pizza during the fourth quarter worth $1,591,000. Finally, Bank of Hawaii increased its position in Domino’s Pizza by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 4,290 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $811,000 after buying an additional 1,095 shares during the last quarter. 99.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Domino’s Pizza

Domino's Pizza, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a pizza delivery company in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Domestic Stores, International Franchise, and Supply Chain. The company offers pizzas under the Domino's Pizza brand name through company-owned and franchised Domino's Pizza stores.

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Analyst Recommendations for Domino`s Pizza (NYSE:DPZ)

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