symantec

DOMINO’S PIZZA INC., $126.25, symbol DPZ on New York, is the world’s largest chain of pizza stores that offer takeout and delivery. It operates 12,100 outlets in the U.S. and 80 other countries. Franchisees run most of these stores.

The company continues to profit from its move into online orders and through smartphone apps....

IAMGOLD CORP., $2.76, symbol IMG on Toronto, has a joint venture with Calibre Mining (symbol CXB on Toronto) to explore the Eastern Borosi silver/gold project in Nicaragua. The partners plan to spend $1.5 million U.S. this year on a 5,500-metre drilling program. They have already completed 11,400 metres of drilling since they formed their joint venture in May 2014. The drilling results have so far included several high-grade mineral showings. They include a 12.9m drilling section that graded at a high 8.73 grams per tonne of gold and 11.5 grams per tonne of silver....

SYMANTEC CORP. $19 (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 652.2 million; Market cap: $12.4 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 2.0; Dividend yield: 1.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.symantec.com) has launched a new service that aims to improve the security of Internet websites. Called “Encryption Everywhere,” this software makes it easier for web hosting firms to embed encryption when they create new websites. This will help protect users from cybercriminals and online intruders. Symantec is giving away this software for free. It feels this approach will encourage hosting firms to adopt the technology and eventually buy more security services and software. Just 3% of the world’s websites use encryption technology, so there’s plenty of room to grow. Symantec is a buy.

GENERAL MILLS INC. $61 (New York symbol GIS, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 593.4 million; Market cap: $36.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 3.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.generalmills.com) plans to change the labels on its packaged food products to indicate if they contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs). That’s mainly to comply with new GMO-labelling rules in Vermont. They take effect in July 2016. The change will also help the company prepare for the likelihood of new national labelling standards. General Mills is currently phasing out GMO versions of oats in its cereals. However, it will continue to use GMO crops for other products. That’s because they use corn and wheat, and finding sufficient supplies of non-GMO versions would be difficult....

SYMANTEC CORP. $19.97 (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (650-527-8000; www.symantec.com; Shares outstanding: 675.5 million; Market cap: $12.8 billion; Dividend yield: 1.5%) has completed the sale of its Veritas Technologies subsidiary to the Carlyle Group (Nasdaq symbol CG). This business makes products for data backup and recovery. Symantec received $6.6 billion in cash ($5.3 billion after taxes). It also retained a $400 million equity stake in Veritas. Symantec has earmarked $2.3 billion of the proceeds for share repurchases it aims to complete by March 2017. The company has also lowered its regular quarterly dividend by 50.0%, to $0.075 a share from $0.15, because of the Veritas sale. The new annual rate of $0.30 yields 1.5%. It will, however, pay a special dividend of $4.00 a share on March 22, 2016....

SYMANTEC CORP. $19.97 (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (650-527-8000; www.symantec.com; Shares outstanding: 675.5 million; Market cap: $12.8 billion; Dividend yield: 1.5%) has completed the sale of its Veritas Technologies subsidiary to the Carlyle Group (Nasdaq symbol CG). This business makes products for data backup and recovery. Symantec received $6.6 billion in cash ($5.3 billion after taxes). It also retained a $400 million equity stake in Veritas. Symantec has earmarked $2.3 billion of the proceeds for share repurchases it aims to complete by March 2017. The company has also lowered its regular quarterly dividend by 50.0%, to $0.075 a share from $0.15, because of the Veritas sale. The new annual rate of $0.30 yields 1.5%. It will, however, pay a special dividend of $4.00 a share on March 22, 2016....

ALPHABET INC., Nasdaq symbols GOOG (class C non-voting), $683.57, and GOOGL (class A voting), $703.76, is the new holding company for Google’s Internet search business and its smaller, riskier operations. These smaller businesses, which the company calls “Other Bets,” sell home thermostats and high-speed Internet and digital TV services. In the three months ended December 31, 2015, Alphabet’s revenue rose 17.8%, to $21.3 billion from $18.1 billion a year earlier, beating the consensus forecast of $20.8 billion. The main search engine business accounted for 99% of the total. That division’s revenue gained 17.7%. The number of paid clicks on advertisers’ ads jumped 31%, helping offset a 13% drop in the average amount advertisers paid per click. More people are using mobile devices to access the Internet, but advertisers pay lower rates for mobile ads because they’re harder to see on smaller screens. Revenue from Other Bets (1% of revenue) jumped 42.5%....

WESTJET AIRLINES LTD., $16.29, symbol WJA on Toronto, reported lower revenue and profits in the latest quarter. Weakness in the Alberta market offset the benefit of 25% lower fuel prices. Fuel typically accounts for a third of the airline’s operating expenses. In the three months ended December 31, 2015, WestJet’s revenue fell 3.6%, to $958.7 million from $994.4 million a year earlier. Earnings fell 30.1%, to $63.4 million, or $0.51 a share. A year earlier, they were $90.7 million, or $0.71 a share. Aside from the revenue drop, higher costs, including maintenance and salaries, contributed to the earnings decline. The latest quarter also included a pre-tax foreign exchange loss of $10.0 million. Since the end of the quarter, though, the company’s load factor has improved—it rose to 80.1% in January 2016 from 79.5% in January 2015. (Load factor is the percentage of seats occupied by paying passengers.)...

SYMANTEC CORP. $19 (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 680.0 million; Market cap: $12.9 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.symantec.com) said in 2014 that it would split into two publicly traded firms. One would keep the Symantec name and focus on antivirus and security software. The other, called Veritas Technologies, would focus on Symantec’s information-management business, which makes products for data backup and recovery. However, the company instead decided to sell Veritas to the Carlyle Group (Nasdaq symbol CG) for $8.0 billion. Now Carlyle seems to be having trouble raising the funds to buy Veritas. As a result, Symantec and Carlyle have altered the deal’s terms. Symantec will now receive $7.0 billion, including $6.6 billion in cash and $400 million in Veritas stock. It plans to complete the sale by the end of January 2016....

SYMANTEC CORP. $19 (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 680.0 million; Market cap: $12.9 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.symantec.com) said in 2014 that it would split into two publicly traded firms. One would keep the Symantec name and focus on antivirus and security software. The other, called Veritas Technologies, would focus on Symantec’s information-management business, which makes products for data backup and recovery. However, the company instead decided to sell Veritas to the Carlyle Group (Nasdaq symbol CG) for $8.0 billion. Now Carlyle seems to be having trouble raising the funds to buy Veritas. As a result, Symantec and Carlyle have altered the deal’s terms. Symantec will now receive $7.0 billion, including $6.6 billion in cash and $400 million in Veritas stock. It plans to complete the sale by the end of January 2016....