Domino’s Pizza Inc (NASDAQ:DPZ) Short Interest Up 25.9% in March

Domino’s Pizza Inc (NASDAQ:DPZ) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,419,660 shares, a growth of 25.9% from the March 15th total of 2,715,762 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,081,572 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days. Approximately 10.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Domino’s Pizza Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ DPZ traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $368.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 264,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 910,230. Domino’s Pizza has a 1-year low of $346.31 and a 1-year high of $499.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $383.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $403.79. The firm has a market cap of $12.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.18.

Domino’s Pizza (NASDAQ:DPZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The restaurant operator reported $5.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.38 by ($0.03). Domino’s Pizza had a net margin of 12.18% and a negative return on equity of 15.28%. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Domino’s Pizza will post 16.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Domino’s Pizza Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $1.99 dividend. This is a boost from Domino’s Pizza’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $7.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Domino’s Pizza’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.30%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DPZ. Huntleigh Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Domino’s Pizza by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Huntleigh Advisors Inc. now owns 530 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Lafayette Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Domino’s Pizza by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 955 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its stake in Domino’s Pizza by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 2,382 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Domino’s Pizza by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 965 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Domino’s Pizza by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,317 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. 94.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DPZ. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $455.00 target price (down from $535.00) on shares of Domino’s Pizza in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Domino’s Pizza from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Domino’s Pizza from $440.00 to $425.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Domino’s Pizza in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Domino’s Pizza from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $460.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $471.79.

Domino’s Pizza Company Profile

Domino’s Pizza, Inc (NASDAQ: DPZ) is a global pizza delivery and carryout chain founded in 1960 and headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The company specializes in a broad range of hand‐crafted pizzas, including hand-tossed, thin crust and specialty offerings, alongside side items such as chicken wings, sandwiches, pasta, desserts and beverages. Domino’s has built its brand on convenience and speed, leveraging proprietary ordering platforms and its Domino’s Tracker system to provide real-time status updates from order placement through delivery.

Operating predominantly under a franchise model, Domino’s has more than 17,000 stores worldwide, with approximately 95% of outlets owned and operated by independent franchisees.