Fidelity Go Takes Top Spot In Rankings of Robo Advisors

&l;p&g;&l;img class=&q;dam-image getty size-large wp-image-838450836&q; src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/dam/imageserve/838450836/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q; data-height=&q;640&q; data-width=&q;960&q;&g; Robo-adviser technology shaking hands with a human client.

Fidelity Go took top ranking as the best overall robo advisor in the 2019 winter edition of The Robo Ranking report from Backend Benchmarking. SigFig came in second.

This was Fidelity&s;s first time in The Robo Ranking, the first and only report on the performance and portfolios of leading robo advisors. The report ranks robo advisors on a set of qualitative and quantitative measures. Ellevest and TD Ameritrade were also added this year.

They join the 10 providers from the last edition: Acorns, Betterment, E*Trade, FutureAdvisor, Intelligent Portfolios/Intelligent Advisory, Personal Capital, Schwab, SigFig, Vanguard, Wealthfront, and WiseBanyon.

Fidelity&a;rsquo;s strong performance against the report&s;s Normalized Benchmark brought them to the top spot. The report said Fidelity&s;s proprietary &q;funds carry no expense ratio, making their 0.35% management fee the full cost of the service.&q;

&q;Although 0.35% is a higher management fee than some of the other robos, when considering combined management fees and expense ratios, Fidelity Go is on par with other low-cost providers,&q; said the report.

Fidelity also scored with quality financial planning tools and an easy-to-use website with many features. However, one feature common among robo advisors that Fidelity doesn&a;rsquo;t offer is automated tax-loss harvesting. Fidelity provides support representatives to help users with a website problem, but these are not advisors.

&q;Overall, Fidelity&s;s platform and performance are strong and they are a great choice for those seeking a low-cost, low-minimum strongly performing robo advisor.&q; said the report.

SigFig took second place because of its simple interface and the fact that clients with $10,000 in assets have access to a live advisor. It only requires a $2,000 minimum and charges a 0.25% fee on managed assets more than $10,000.

This is the second Robo Ranking. It grades robo advisors on 45 specific metrics over the time period of Dec. 31, 2016 to Dec. 31, 2018.

The final score is made up of a qualitative review of their services, platform, company, and features, as well as a quantitative score based primarily on the costs and performance of the portfolio. A small portion of the quantitative score is based on the size and tenure of the robo advice product.

The qualitative score was based on six main criteria: account minimums, financial planning, product features, access to live advisors, user interface/customer experience; and transparency and conflicts of interest. Robo advisors that provide greater transparency and functionality to users within their base product were given the highest scores.

In this edition, weighted average expense ratios and management fees were a single metric instead of two separate ones. It also included a 0.30% management fee in the benchmark to better reflect the performance of a managed portfolio.

Backend Benchmarking is a research company bringing transparency to the financial advice industry. It&s;s based in Martinsville, N.J. It was founded in 2017 by Ken Shapiro, the president of Condor Capital Management, which started publishing The Robo Report in 2016.

Subcategory winners include:

&l;strong&g;Best Robo for Performance at a Low Cost&l;/strong&g;

Winner: Fidelity Go

Runner-Up: SigFig

Honorable Mention: WiseBanyan

&l;strong&g;Best Robo for Complex Financial Planning Needs &l;/strong&g;

Winner: Personal Capital

Runner-Up: Vanguard

&l;strong&g;Best Robo for Digital Financial Planning&l;/strong&g;

Winner: Wealthfront

Runner-Up: Personal Capital

Honorable Mention: Betterment

&l;strong&g;Best Robo for First-Time Investors&l;/strong&g;

Winner: Betterment

Runner-Up: Acorns

&l;strong&g;Best Robo from an Incumbent Financial Institution&l;/strong&g;

Winner: Fidelity Go

Runner-Up: Vanguard

The full Robo Ranking report is available for free at &l;a href=&q;https://jvprny.dmanalytics2.com/click?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftheroboreport.com%2Frobo-rankings%2F&a;amp;i=1&a;amp;d=2akbK1k3SgSYqESQAbpHeg&a;amp;e=lcarrel%40earthlink.net&a;amp;a=vHGiNi_0RYK9ZmWyfm6BIw&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;https://theroboreport.com/robo-rankings/&l;/a&g;

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What Types of Insurance Do You Need?

The basic premise of all insurance is that you buy it before you need it. It's best to make sure you have all the right policies in place, so when some kind of disaster strikes -- and it will -- you won't be in dire financial straits. It's the true embodiment of "better safe than sorry." 

Read on to understand why you need different kinds of insurance and learn about nine types of policies you should consider buying to ensure you are prepared for life and all it may bring.

Image source: Getty Images.

What is insurance?

Insurance is any kind of program that allows people to protect themselves from major disasters by combining their risks with other people's and paying into a pool, which will pay out money if you experience a specific kind of adversity like illness, injury, death, or car damage.

Being insured allows you to transfer the risk of a catastrophic financial loss to the insurance company. And if you don't have a policy when you need one, it could mean big trouble. The nature of insurance means you can't decide to get it once the disaster occurs and you find yourself uninsured. You should get all your policies in place while things are going swell and you're still insurable in the eyes of the insurer.

What is an insurance premium?

Usually, you pay for your insurance monthly with a pre-determined amount of money called a premium.

When you buy insurance, your money is pooled with the money of a bunch of other people who buy insurance. Insurance companies typically use a process called underwriting to decide how much money you need to put into the pool, based on the probability that you'll require a payout.

If the underwriters do their job correctly, the insurance company pays out less in coverage than the amount of premiums coming in, allowing it to be sustainable and continue insuring new people, while paying out the appropriate amounts to the insured people it already covers.

What is an insurance deductible?

Your premiums aren't the only costs you pay when you have insurance. Your policy likely has a deductible, which is the amount of money you must pay out of pocket before insurance begins providing coverage.

For example, if you have a $500 deductible on your auto insurance policy and you get into a crash that causes $400 of damage, your insurance won't pay anything because your deductible has not been met, so you're on the hook for the costs. If the damage were $1,000, you'd pay the first $500 in damages and, once your deductible is met, your insurer would pay the remaining $500. 

The lower your deductible, the higher your premium costs -- and vice versa. In some cases, certain services are covered before your deductible is met. For example, your car insurance may cover windshield repairs even if you haven't met your deductible, or your health insurance may cover preventative care appointments even if you haven't met your deductible. 

How do I get insurance?

Insurance can be obtained from different sources. In some cases, you can get insurance coverage through an employer. Employers commonly offer health insurance, and sometimes life insurance and disability insurance, as a workplace benefit. When you obtain insurance through an employer, you may have a choice of one or more plans that your employer has pre-selected and your employer may pay some or all of the premiums for your coverage. 

You could also apply for insurance through individual insurance companies, or through insurance marketplaces or exchanges where you can compare prices from multiple insurance providers. 

When you apply for insurance, you'll need to specify who you want the policy to cover. For example, you may decide to cover your entire family under the same health insurance policy -- or you may get coverage for yourself and your kids through your workplace policy while your spouse gets coverage through his or her own employer. For some types of insurance, such as auto insurance, you may need to cover everyone in your household who will drive your vehicle to ensure comprehensive protection. 

Some kinds of insurance, such as life insurance, require you to select a beneficiary who will receive the payout in the event of your death. This is different from choosing who is covered under the policy. With a life insurance policy, your life can be the covered life, but your beneficiary will receive the death benefit payout when you die. 

Unfortunately, there are times when you may apply for insurance and find out you are not eligible for it. For example, someone with a terminal illness may not be eligible for life insurance coverage from most insurers. If you cannot get the coverage you need, try shopping around with different insurance companies, but know that it isn't always possible to find someone who will cover you. 

Laws on who can be denied coverage -- and the process for shopping for coverage -- can differ dramatically depending on what kinds of insurance you're looking for. Read on to find out more about nine common types of insurance you may want to consider buying. 

1. Health insurance

Health insurance is the single most important type of insurance you'll ever buy. That's because if you don't have health insurance and something goes wrong, it's not just your money at risk -- it's your life.

Health insurance is intended to pay for the costs of medical care. Many people get health insurance through employers who subsidize premiums, meaning the employer pays the bulk of your premium, and you chip in a little with each paycheck.

If you don't have employer-sponsored health insurance, you'll need to buy health insurance on the individual market. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act (or Obamacare), you may be able to buy subsidized insurance on a state or federal exchange and get tax credits that help you afford the cost of monthly premiums.

The specific coverage you get when you buy health insurance depends which policy you select. Your options include:

Low-deductible health plans: Low deductible health insurance plans are plans that keep your out-of-pocket costs for care low. You will pay higher premiums for these plans, since they provide more coverage. Your costs are more predictable since you'll know what your premiums are up front and you never have to worry about paying thousands of dollars if you end up needing medical services.  High-deductible health plans: High-deductible health plans (HDHPs) have low premiums, meaning you pay less up front each month just to be covered. But the trade-off is that you're responsible for covering routine basic care, because your deductible -- or the amount you pay with your own money before insurance kicks in to pay the rest-- is typically several thousand dollars. With many high-deductible health plans, you can open a Health Savings Account (HSA) and contribute pre-tax funds to it that can be used to pay for medical costs as you incur them. Catastrophic health plans: Catastrophic health plans are the cheapest in terms of premiums, but provide virtually no coverage for care unless you incur many thousands of dollars in medical costs. The deductibles are even higher than that of a typical high-deductible plan.  Health maintenance organizations (HMOs): With an HMO network, you are restricted to receiving care from a specific network of participating doctors. These doctors are referred to as being in-network and they have agreed to accept rates for care set by your insurance company. You will need a referral from a primary care physician to see a specialist. Most HMOs define "specialist" to include anyone other than your primary care physician. This could include obstetricians, dermatologists, psychologists, chiropractors, and more.   Preferred provider organizations (PPOs): With PPOs, you don't have to get a referral to see a specialist. And while care will be cheaper if you pick a doctor who is in network, you'll have better coverage for out-of-network care than with an HMO.  Exclusive provider organizations (EPOs): EPOs don't require that you get a referral to see a specialist, but will pay nothing for out-of-network care except in emergencies. Point-of-service plan: A point-of-service plan pays for in-network and out-of-network care, although you'll pay more if you see a doctor out-of-network. A primary care doctor will need to make referrals to specialists when needed. 

Try to match your policy to your care needs out of what's available and offered to you. If you're someone who doesn't incur a lot of health expenses, a high-deductible health policy may be the most affordable solution. But if you see the doctor often for any number of reasons, get a policy with higher premiums but more comprehensive coverage and a lower deductible, so you don't go broke paying for all your services.

Under Obamacare, every health insurance plan is required to cover certain basic services before your deductible is met, like preventative care. The law also mandates insurance companies cannot charge more for a health insurance policy if the person has a pre-existing condition. The price of health insurance is based upon your age, geographic area, and whether you're a smoker. Insurers are prohibited by Obamacare from considering your gender, race, or past medical history.  

Without exception, absolutely everyone needs health insurance because even a minor medical issue can become extremely expensive. Major medical issues can come with astronomical costs, as a single hospital stay or surgical procedure could cost many thousands of dollars. 

You can sign up for health insurance only at certain times of the year during "open enrollment" -- which is a designated period when anyone can buy coverage -- unless you have a qualifying event, such as losing coverage because of a divorce or job change. Visit Healthcare.gov to find out when open enrollment is on the Obamacare exchanges, or check with your employer to see when you can sign up if your employer provides insurance as a job benefit. 

2. Dental insurance 

Dental insurance is typically separate from medical insurance, but it's not any less mandatory. Anyone can suffer a toothache, gum disease, cavity or even a broken tooth, all of which are very expensive to treat. Secondly, everyone should be visiting a dentist twice a year for cleaning and checkups.

You can get dental insurance through an employer if your company offers this as a benefit. Otherwise, you can independently buy dental insurance from providers. Unfortunately, there are no subsidies to help you afford dental insurance premiums, like Obamacare does for medical insurance.

You'll need to shop around for a policy that provides appropriate coverage. Dental insurance options include:

Discount plans: With a dental discount plan, your plan doesn't pay for a portion of your care. Instead you get discounted services by seeing a dentist within a participating network. You pay a smaller cost to be covered under a discount plan than for other types of dental insurance, but you'll also typically pay more out of pocket.  HMO: You must pick a dentist who will be your primary care provider and there's no coverage for out-of-network dentists.  Dental PPO (DPPO): You can visit in or out-of-network dentists, but in-network dentists will be cheaper. Fee-for-service: Like with a DPPO, you can visit any dentist and your insurance will pay a percentage of coverage. However, fee-for-service dentists typically aren't reimbursed as much from the insurance as dentists participating in a PPO plan so you may incur more out-of-pocket costs. 

Like with health insurance, the more your insurance pays toward your care, the higher the premium costs. And if you want to see a particular dentist, you should try to find an insurer that lists your dentist as an in-network provider. You can ask your dentist which insurance carriers they work with and try to buy a policy from that insurer. 

3. Disability insurance

Disability insurance is intended to replace your income if something happens that makes you unable to work. There are both long- and short-term disability policies, with short-term disability coverage typically replacing a larger portion of your income.

Disability policies have a specific definition of what it means to be disabled, and they pay only a percentage of the salary you were earning prior to becoming disabled. This typically ranges from about 60% to 70% of base salary for a short-term disability policy and between 40% and 60% of base salary for a long-term policy. Policies also set a maximum cap on how much you can receive. 

Disability insurance can be provided by or purchased through an employer, or you could buy a policy on the individual market. Many people forgo disability insurance because policies can be costly. Your premiums are generally equal to a percentage of income, but many factors are taken into account including gender and health history. The waiting period, or the time you have to be without income due to disability, will also affect premium costs. The longer the time period before disability insurance kicks in, the lower the premiums will be.

If you shop for a disability policy, look for coverage that has a broad definition of disabled and that replaces a big enough portion of income, with a short waiting period, if any. Going without disability insurance can put you into a difficult situation. While you can apply for Social Security Disability benefits, these benefits are available for long-term disabilities only and can be very difficult to qualify for. If you can't qualify for Social Security benefits and haven't purchased disability insurance, you may have no income at all if you can't work. 

4. Life insurance

Life insurance pays out money called a death benefit to a designated beneficiary when you die. You can name people, companies, or trusts as beneficiaries, and you can have more than one beneficiary who will split your death benefit in accordance with your instructions. 

If anyone relies on your income, you need life insurance. If anyone depends on you for services -- such as your family if you're a stay-at-home spouse or aging relatives if you're a caregiver -- you need life insurance. If you have business partners who will need to buy out your share of the business if you pass away, you need life insurance. And since the average funeral costs between $7,000 and $9,000, you even need life insurance if you want to be buried without sending your family into debt. 

The costs of life insurance vary depending upon the amount of the death benefit, as well as your age, health status, and other risk factors. If your hobby is skydiving or swimming with sharks, you'll pay more. You will typically need to undergo a medical exam when you apply for a life insurance policy and answer a questionnaire about your hobbies and habits including whether you've ever been a smoker or used illegal drugs. 

The kind of life insurance you buy also matters. For most people, a term life insurance policy is the right one to get. Term life insurance is in effect for a set period of time, such as 20 or 30 years. If you die while the policy covers you, the death benefit pays out to whomever you designated as a beneficiary. If you don't, no benefits are paid. The idea behind term life insurance is that you have a policy when you need it -- when your kids are young or your spouse needs your income. By the time the term expires, your kids should be grown and you should have savings in the bank so your spouse no longer relies on your paycheck. 

You can also buy whole life insurance. Whole life insurance is more expensive than term life insurance, and not just because it can remain in effect for your entire life as long as you pay premiums. Premiums paid for whole life coverage are more than what it costs just to insure you, and some of the money is invested. Whole life policies thus acquire a cash value, which you could borrow against by filling out a simple form or access by selling your policy to investors using a service that facilitates life settlements. 

Most experts agree that whole life insurance isn't a great investment. But it may make sense if you will always need coverage. For example, if you want to ensure a disabled child receives a death benefit no matter when you die, you may decide to buy a whole life policy. If you do purchase a whole life policy, shop carefully and ask about fees because many policies come with high costs.  

There are many unscrupulous life insurance salespeople who sell policies that earn them high commissions but that may not be right for you. To protect yourself, be sure to shop from a reliable company and check with your state's insurance commissioner to find out if the company has been the subject of complaints. Buying directly from a trusted insurer or obtaining a life insurance policy through your employer is typically a safer bet than getting a policy from a salesperson, but if you do work with someone selling coverage, ask up front what commissions they'll be paid.  

5. Pet insurance 

If you have pets, you should have insurance for them. Animals can encounter expensive health issues, and there are many advanced treatments available for serious ailments in pets. In fact, animals can have chemotherapy for cancer, heart surgery for heart disease, hip replacements, and many other treatments available in human medicine. 

The policy will be more affordable if you buy it while your pet is still young. Pet insurance policies also vary in what they cover. You could get an accident-only policy to pay out in case your pet gets hit by a car or hurt in another type of accident. You could get an accident and illness policy to pay in case your pet develops a serious illness or is hurt in an accident. Or, you can get a comprehensive policy that covers accidents, illness, and routine care.

Pet insurance policies almost always exclude pre-existing conditions, and some exclude genetic disorders or specific breeds known to have health problems, such as French bulldogs.  

Shop carefully to see what each policy covers. And, just as with human health insurance, a policy with a higher deductible will cost less in premiums but require you to pay out more when your pet needs care. You should also check with consumer websites like TrustPilot and the Better Business Bureau before choosing a pet insurance carrier, as some insurers make lots of promises but end up denying claims and not providing the promised coverage. 

6. Homeowners or renters insurance 

If you own a home, you need homeowners insurance. If you rent your place, you need renters insurance. You need this insurance unless you can afford to pay out of pocket to replace every single thing you own. You also need it to shield you from liability in case someone else gets hurt on your property. 

Homeowners and renters insurance policies contain two different components: Liability coverage and property coverage. Liability coverage pays for costs associated with an injury on your property. If someone slips and falls on your steps, your liability policy will pay for your defense if they sue you. It will also pay for any damages the injured person is awarded. Liability coverage also pays out if your dog bites someone and you're sued. 

Property coverage pays if something happens to your home or your possessions within it. If your house burns down or your roof is destroyed by a hail storm or your belongings are stolen, your insurance will pay you. Typically, this insurance also covers you if you're robbed outside of your home. If your laptop is stolen out of your car, the insurance should cover it. 

You can get market value or replacement value property coverage. Market value would pay what your home or possessions are worth on the market. If your couch is 10 years old, your insurer would pay only a small amount for the couch because it's not worth much -- even though you probably wouldn't actually be able to buy a new couch with the money the insurer gives you. If you get replacement value coverage, the insurance pays to replace the possessions you lost or pays the cost to rebuild your home. 

You'll need to choose how much liability protection and property coverage you want to buy. The more coverage you have, the higher the premiums. You'll also need to choose your deductible. As is typical for insurance, a lower deductible means higher premiums, while a higher deductible means you pay more out of pocket if something happens, but your regular premiums are lower. 

Most policies also impose certain limits on how much they'll pay for lost possessions. For example, your insurance policy may cover up to $2,500 in jewelry -- but if you have a $25,000 engagement ring, you'd need add-on coverage called a rider on the policy to have it fully covered. You should ask your insurance agent exactly what the coverage limits are if you have any especially valuable possessions. 

7. Flood insurance

Homeowners insurance covers most sources of loss to your home, but policies typically exclude floods.

If you need flood insurance, you'll likely get it from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which provides subsidized flood insurance. You need to find an NFIP-participating agent to get covered. In some but not all states, you could instead buy coverage through a private insurer. The option to buy private flood insurance policies is relatively new and may not be available where you live. There are also risks with private policies that can be avoided by using the NFIP program, including the possibility that your policy won't be renewed and you'll be left without coverage when you need it. 

If you live in a flood zone as determined by FEMA flood maps, your lender will require you to buy flood insurance if you have a mortgage. Renters should also purchase flood insurance to protect their possessions in case of a flood. 

Even if you don't live in a flood zone, if you're concerned about flooding or think your property might be declared a flood zone at some time in the future, you should buy flood insurance. Otherwise, you'll have no coverage for your property or possessions if your home floods.  

8. Car insurance

Most people are familiar with auto insurance, as you're required by law to have it in order to drive. In fact, driving with no insurance or registering a vehicle without insurance can lead to criminal charges. 

Each state sets its own rules for what car insurance you're required to have. Typically, you need a liability insurance policy, which pays out if you injure someone or damage someone else's property. If you cause an accident, your liability insurance pays for costs of defending you against a lawsuit, and also pays out compensation as part of a settlement or awarded damages in a lawsuit. Liability policies don't pay for losses you incur when you damage your vehicle -- they pay for losses you cause others to incur. 

In 15 states, you're also required to buy personal injury protection (PIP). These states are called no-fault states, and if you get into an accident while driving in one of these states, you don't file a claim with the other driver's insurer for compensation for minor injuries. Rather, your own insurance pays if you get hurt, unless the injury was catastrophic. Your PIP coverage pays for your own injury or loss of wages, up to a set limit, regardless of who was responsible for the accident.

Some states also require that you buy uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. Uninsured motorist coverage pays for losses that an uninsured driver causes, that would have been covered by their insurance if they had it. Underinsured coverage pays for uncompensated losses caused by someone with too little insurance. If your state doesn't require uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, you can still choose to buy it and likely should because getting into an accident with an uninsured driver could lead to thousands of dollars in uncovered losses.  

You also have the choice to opt for additional coverage. For example, you can buy comprehensive coverage to pay for repairs or replacement of your vehicle if you cause an accident, a tree falls on your car, it's stolen, or something else happens to it. If you have a car loan, you'll probably be required to buy this. And you can buy rental car coverage so your insurer pays for a rental car if your vehicle is damaged in an accident and you need to wait for repairs. 

You need to at least have the minimum auto insurance required by your state. You should also have comprehensive coverage unless your car is very inexpensive and you could easily replace it. 

The amount of coverage you have, along with your deductible, determines your premiums. Insurers also consider your age, gender, driving record, marital status, and other factors to assess whether you're a risky driver or not. Even the color and make of your vehicle can affect premium costs. If you're considered to be a high-risk driver, you will pay more for coverage. 

9. Umbrella insurance 

Finally, you may decide you want umbrella insurance. An umbrella policy provides coverage above and beyond the liability protections provided by all other insurance policies.

If your homeowners or automobile policy provides just $250,000 in coverage and you're sued for $1 million, the umbrella policy would pay the outstanding liabilities.  It's important to have umbrella insurance to protect your assets and to protect you from having your wages garnished if you're successfully sued.

Buying an umbrella policy can be more affordable than significantly increasing coverage limits on your homeowners and auto insurance. However, your insurer will likely require you to maintain at least a set minimum amount of liability coverage on the other policies. And umbrella insurance only kicks in once those policies have paid out up to policy limits. It's basically your "if all else fails" insurance. And if you're someone who will sleep better at night knowing you're protected all the way, this is for you, if you can afford it without breaking your budget.

Which insurance policies are right for you?

These are the basic types of insurance most people need. If you have a special situation -- such as running a business or working in a profession where you could be sued for malpractice -- you may need additional coverage.

Make sure you insure against all the risks you may face in life, because you don't want to experience catastrophic financial loss on top of the stress that comes when an emergency happens.

Walmart (WMT) PT Raised to $120.00

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had its price target raised by analysts at KeyCorp from $112.00 to $120.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, The Fly reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the retailer’s stock. KeyCorp’s price target points to a potential upside of 20.74% from the company’s previous close. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Walmart’s Q3 2020 earnings at $1.07 EPS, FY2020 earnings at $4.71 EPS, Q1 2021 earnings at $1.06 EPS, Q2 2021 earnings at $1.27 EPS, Q3 2021 earnings at $1.09 EPS, Q4 2021 earnings at $1.43 EPS and FY2021 earnings at $4.86 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on WMT. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 19th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price target (up previously from $113.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday. Buckingham Research began coverage on Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $96.73 price target on the stock. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $108.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.20.

Get Walmart alerts:

Shares of WMT opened at $99.39 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $302.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80. Walmart has a twelve month low of $81.78 and a twelve month high of $106.21.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 19th. The retailer reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $137.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $137.63 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 1.30% and a return on equity of 18.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Walmart will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 275,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.49, for a total value of $26,534,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,748,580 shares in the company, valued at $651,170,484.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.00, for a total transaction of $46,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,183,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,889,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,271,004 shares of company stock worth $780,904,124. 51.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quad Capital Management Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $709,000. Lake Point Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $290,000. B.S. Pension Fund Trustee Ltd acting for the British Steel Pension Fund acquired a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $764,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 185.5% during the fourth quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 108,407 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,068,000 after buying an additional 70,438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WealthPLAN Partners LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC now owns 42,958 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,295,000 after buying an additional 3,164 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.96% of the company’s stock.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc engages in the retail and wholesale operations in various formats worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, discount stores, drugstores, and convenience stores; membership-only warehouse clubs; e-commerce Websites, such as walmart.com, jet.com, hayneedle.com, shoes.com, moosejaw.com, modcloth.com, bonobos.com, and samsclub.com; and mobile commerce and voice-activated commerce applications.

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Chico’s FAS, Inc. (CHS) Expected to Announce Earnings of -$0.09 Per Share

Wall Street brokerages forecast that Chico’s FAS, Inc. (NYSE:CHS) will announce ($0.09) earnings per share for the current quarter, Zacks Investment Research reports. Three analysts have provided estimates for Chico’s FAS’s earnings. The highest EPS estimate is ($0.07) and the lowest is ($0.12). Chico’s FAS posted earnings per share of $0.11 during the same quarter last year, which suggests a negative year over year growth rate of 181.8%. The company is expected to issue its next quarterly earnings report before the market opens on Wednesday, March 6th.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that Chico’s FAS will report full-year earnings of $0.33 per share for the current financial year, with EPS estimates ranging from $0.31 to $0.35. For the next year, analysts anticipate that the business will post earnings of $0.26 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $0.05 to $0.40. Zacks Investment Research’s earnings per share calculations are an average based on a survey of research firms that follow Chico’s FAS.

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Chico’s FAS (NYSE:CHS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 28th. The specialty retailer reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.03). Chico’s FAS had a return on equity of 10.14% and a net margin of 3.66%. The business had revenue of $499.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $515.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CHS. MKM Partners cut their price target on Chico’s FAS from $8.00 to $4.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 29th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Chico’s FAS from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6.50 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, February 4th. B. Riley set a $7.00 price target on Chico’s FAS and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 29th. Citigroup cut their price target on Chico’s FAS from $9.00 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 29th. Finally, ValuEngine lowered Chico’s FAS from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. The company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.50.

CHS stock traded down $0.13 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $5.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,361,440 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,916,112. Chico’s FAS has a 1 year low of $4.42 and a 1 year high of $10.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 2.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $714.17 million, a PE ratio of 8.35, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.40.

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quantamental Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Chico’s FAS during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund purchased a new position in shares of Chico’s FAS during the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. Eads & Heald Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Chico’s FAS during the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Chico’s FAS during the fourth quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Zacks Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Chico’s FAS during the fourth quarter valued at about $83,000.

Chico’s FAS Company Profile

Chico's FAS, Inc operates as an omni-channel specialty retailer of women's private branded, casual-to-dressy clothing, intimates, and complementary accessories. The company's portfolio of brands consists of the Chico's, White House Black Market (WHBM), and Soma. The Chico's brand primarily sells private branded clothing focusing on women 45 and older.

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Domino's Pizza Inc (DPZ) Q4 2018 Earnings Conference Call Transcript

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Domino's Pizza Inc  (NYSE:DPZ)Q4 2018 Earnings Conference CallFeb. 21, 2019, 10:00 a.m. ET

Contents: Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants Prepared Remarks:

Operator

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Domino's Pizza Inc Fourth Quarter Year End 2018 Earnings Webcast. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later we will conduct a question-and-answer session and instructions will be given at that time. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder today's program is being recorded.

And now I'd like to introduce your host for today's program Tim McIntyre, EVP, Communications IR & Legislative Affairs. Please go ahead, sir.

Timothy P. McIntyre -- Executive Vice President, Communication, Legislative Affairs and Investor Relations

Thank you, Jonathan, and hello everyone. Thanks for joining us. Today's call will highlight the results of our fourth quarter and full year results for 2018. The call will feature commentary from Chief Executive Officer, Ritch Allison; and Chief Financial Officer, Jeff Lawrence. This call is primarily for our investor audience, so I kindly ask that all members of the media and others to be in a listen-only mode. A friendly reminder to our analysts, we have asked you to stick to one question on this call, because we want to give all 20 or so of you the chance to participate. We will provide each of you with the opportunity for more in-depth one-on-one calls later today.

In the event that any forward-looking statements are made, I do refer you to the safe harbor statement you can find in this morning's release, the 8-K and the 10-K. In addition, please refer to the 8-K to find disclosures and reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures that may be used on today's call.

And with that, I'd like to turn the call over to CFO, Jeff Lawrence.

Jeffrey D. Lawrence -- Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

Thank you, Tim, and good morning everyone. We are pleased to report our results for the fourth quarter and full year fiscal 2018. During the quarter, we continued to build on the positive results we posted during the first three quarters of the year and we delivered strong results for our shareholders. We continue to lead the broader restaurant industry with 31 straight quarters of positive US comparable sales and 100 consecutive quarters of positive international comps. We also continue to increase our store count at a healthy pace as we opened 560 net new stores in Q4.

Our diluted EPS was $2.62, which is an increase of 25.4% over the prior year quarter. This increase primarily resulted from strong operational results and a lower effective tax rate. With that, let's take a closer look at the financial results for Q4.

Global retail sales grew 6.5% in the quarter pressured by a stronger dollar. When excluding the negative impact of foreign currency, global retail sales grew by 9.5%. This global retail sales growth was driven by increases in same-store sales and the average number of stores opened during the quarter. Same-store sales for the US grew 5.6% lapping a prior year increase of 4.2%. And same-store sales for our international division grew 2.4% rolling a prior year increase of 2.5%.

Breaking down the US comp, our franchise business was up 5.7% while our Company-owned stores were up 3.6%. Both the increases were driven primarily by higher order counts in addition to some ticket growth as consumers continue to respond positively to our overall brand experience.

Our Piece of the Pie loyalty program once again contributed meaningfully to our traffic gains. Our international comp for the quarter was driven entirely by order growth. During the quarter, all of our geographic regions were positive. Our comps were negatively impacted when compared to the prior year as our Q4 2018 did not include New Year's eve. We estimate that both our US and international comps were negatively impacted by approximately 0.5 (ph) point by this calendar shift.

We expect Q1 2019 to be positively impacted by the calendar shift. Separately and as discussed at our Investor Day, US comp in 2018 were negatively impacted by 1 point to 1.5 point, due to our store split fortressing strategy and investment we are willing to make toward our long-term growth.

Our international comp was also negatively impacted by store split. On the unit count front, we are pleased to report that we opened 125 net US stores in the fourth quarter, consisting of 127 store openings and two closures. For the full year, we opened 258 net US stores, the most US net store openings we have had since 1988.

We are also very pleased to announce that our international division, added 435 net new stores during the quarter. The 435 net new stores were comprised of 472 store openings and 37 closures. For the full year, we opened 800 net new stores in our international division. On a total Company basis we opened 560 net new stores in the fourth quarter and 1,058 net new stores for the full year 2018, demonstrating the broad strength and attractive 4-wall economics, our brand and franchisees enjoy globally.

Turning to revenues, total revenues for the fourth quarter were up $190 million or 21% from the prior year. As a reminder, we adopted the new revenue recognition accounting standard in the first quarter of 2018. As a result, we are now required to report the franchise contributions to our not-for-profit advertising fund and the related expenses, gross on our P&L. Although this did not have an impact on our reported operating or net income in the fourth quarter, it did result in a $112 million increase in our consolidated revenue.

It is important to note, although these amounts are included in our financial statements they are restricted funds that can only be used to support the Domino's brand and are not available to be used for general corporate purposes. The remaining $77.7 million increase in revenues resulted primarily from the following. First, higher food volumes, driven by strong US retail sales resulted in higher supply chain revenues; and second higher US retail sales, resulting from higher same-store sales and store count growth resulted in increased royalties and fees from our franchise stores as well as higher revenues at our Company-owned stores.

International royalty revenues were down from the prior year quarter, primarily due to the negative impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rate. FX negatively impacted international royalty revenues by $3.6 million versus the prior year quarter due to the dollar strengthening against certain currencies. For the full fiscal year, foreign currency negatively impacted royalty revenues by $1.1 million.

Moving on to operating margin, as a percentage of revenues consolidated operating margin for the quarter increased to 38.2% from 31.5% in the prior year quarter. This increase resulted entirely from the recognition of US franchise advertising revenues on our P&L from the new accounting guidance I mentioned previously. Company-owned store margin was down year-over-year and was negatively impacted by both higher food and labor expenses as compared to the prior year quarter. Supply chain operating margin was up year-over-year and was positively impacted by procurement savings, but was negatively pressured by labor and delivery costs. G&A cost increased $15.8 million as compared to the prior year quarter, driven primarily by continued investments in technological initiatives as well as investments in our supply chain, our marketing and our international teams.

We also had two items that largely offset for the quarter. A $4 million pre-tax gain on the sale of Company-owned stores to franchisees in Q4 2017, which reduced G&A in that period. And a $4.6 million reduction in G&A in Q4 2018 resulting from the adoption of the revenue recognition guidance primarily related to the reclassification of certain advertising expenses out of G&A into US franchise advertising costs.

US franchise advertising costs were $112.9 million in the fourth quarter, as a reminder, beginning in fiscal 2018 we are showing US franchise advertising in our revenues with an equal and offsetting amount of expense in our operating costs. Interest expense increased $6.8 million in the fourth quarter, driven by increased net debt from our most recent recapitalizations and a slightly higher weighted average borrowing rate of 4.1%.

Our reported effective tax rate was 17% for the quarter, down significantly from prior year. This was primarily due to the lower federal statutory rate of 21% and tax credits resulting from the federal tax reform legislation enacted at the end of 2017. The reported effective tax rate included 0.8 percentage points impact from tax benefit on equity based compensation.

We expect that we will continue to see volatility in our effective tax rate related to equity-based compensation. When you add it all up, our fourth quarter net income was up $18.3 million or 19.6% over the prior year quarter. Our fourth quarter diluted EPS was $2.62 versus $2.09 in the prior year. Here is how that $0.53 increase break down. Our lower effective tax rate positively impacted us by $0.44, including a $0.57 positive impact from tax reform, and a $0.13 negative year-over-year impact related to lower tax benefit on equity-based compensation. Lower diluted share counts, primarily as a result of share repurchases benefited us by $0.12.

Higher net interest expense resulting primarily from a higher net debt balance, negatively impacted us by $0.09. The gain on store sales recorded in Q4 2017, negatively impacted us by $0.06. Foreign currency negatively impacted royalty revenues by $0.05. And lastly, most importantly, our improved operating results benefited us by $0.17.

Let's now turn to our use of cash. First and most importantly, we invested nearly $120 million in capital expenditures for the full year. We continue to invest in our supply chain to keep up with our rapid growth, including opening our New Jersey Center in Q4 and starting work on two additional supply chain centers, one in South Carolina and one in Texas. We also continue to invest in our technology capabilities. During the fourth quarter, we repurchased and retired approximately 636,000 shares for approximately $162 million at an average purchase price of $255 a share. For the full year, we repurchased nearly 2.4 million shares for approximately $591 million at an average purchase price of $248 a share.

During the fourth quarter, we also returned $45 million to our shareholders in the form of two quarterly dividend and made $9 million of required principal payments on our long-term debt. Subsequent to year-end on February 20th, our Board of Directors increased our quarterly dividend approximately 18% to $0.65 per share.

As always, we will continue to evaluate the most effective and efficient capital structure for our business, as well as the best way to deploy our excess cash for the benefit of our shareholders. We'd like to remind you of the 2019 annual outlook items that were shared at our Investor Day in January. We currently project that the stores food basket within the US system will be up 2% to 4% as compared to 2018 level.

We estimate that foreign currency could have a $5 million to $10 million negative impact on royalty revenues in 2019 as compared to 2018. We expect our growth CapEx investments to be in the range of $110 million to $120 million, as we continue to improve and build supply chain capacity and capabilities and invest in technological innovation. We expect our G&A expense to be in the range of $390 million to $395 million for 2019, and do please keep in mind that G&A expense can vary up or down, as our performance versus our plan, as that affect variable performance-based compensation expense and other costs.

Separately, and as a reminder, we will be adopting the new lease accounting standard in the first quarter of 2019. The adoption of this standard will result in a significant growth up on our balance sheet, but it is not expected to have a material impact on our income statement. Overall, our solid consistent momentum continued and we are very pleased with our results this quarter and for the full year. We will remain focused on relentlessly driving the brand forward and providing great value to our customers, our franchisees and our shareholders.

Thank you for joining the call today, and I'll turn it over to Ritch.

Richard E. Allison -- Chief Executive Officer

Thanks, Jeff and good morning everyone, I'm pleased with what was a terrific fourth quarter, one that capped another outstanding year for Domino's. Our results continue to outpace the industry and our franchisees across the globe continue to make me extremely proud. I plan to keep my commentary rather brief today, mostly due to the fact that we recently held our Annual Investor Day, which was a great opportunity to communicate, detail around our strategy and my thoughts on my first six months, as CEO of this tremendous brand.

We certainly hope you found it to be helpful, filled with substance and time well spent. The updates and concepts we discussed centered around one thing, what matters. Today and going forward, I'm going to frame up our quarterly performance around these elements. Areas in metrics that I am most focused on as we execute the long-term strategy designed to help us achieve our goal of becoming the pizza industry's dominant number one.

So let's revisit what matters. Retail sales growth matters, and once again we delivered. Our global retail sales growth reflected a strong balance, across our US and international businesses. For both businesses in Q4, our growth reflected a healthy blend of unit growth and traffic driven same-store sales. Looking first at our US business, double-digit retail sales growth in Q4 was comprised of a very healthy and order count driven 5.6% comp and 125 net new units.

The fourth quarter marked our 31st consecutive quarter of positive US same-store sales growth and capped very strong top line performance in 2018, above our three to five year outlook range. And continually driven by focus, fundamentals and execution. I'm so proud of our US franchisees and teams who continue to lead the Domino's system.

Turning now to International, we delivered strong retail sales growth for the fourth quarter and a double-digit result for the whole year. Fourth quarter net unit openings were particularly strong and represented a significant acceleration over previous quarters. Same store sales performance can certainly improve versus what we have all come to expect, but I'm pleased to see all of our comp coming from order growth.

During the quarter, we had two important milestones. First, we opened our 10,000 store outside of the United States, a testament to the unit growth engine, this segment has provided to the business over a lengthy period of time. In addition, the fourth quarter was officially our 100th consecutive quarter of positive same-store sales growth. To think that we have grown sales in our international business for 25 straight years, and 100 straight quarters, still honestly blows my mind. And is a testament to us having the best international model in QSR.

I credit our master franchisees and global operators for helping the brand achieve such an impressive milestone. Continuing our discussion of what matters, let's turn to value. Value matters and continues to be a significant part of our strategy. We remain the only player within our category to deliver value in a sustained meaningful and reliable fashion. As we have for nearly a decade, our 599 delivery and 799 carryout offers in the US continue to resonate with our customers. But beyond just the price point, we continually search for and deliver additional customer benefit to the overall value equation. Technology, leadership and our loyalty program matter. Although, this call is about the fourth quarter, I can't help but note something exciting we introduced earlier this month.

We launched a technology and loyalty platform like no other of its kind. The points for Pie's program allows customers to send photos of any Pizza, using our AI interface we call the Pie identifier and earn points in our Piece of the Pie loyalty program. It is one more example of how we do things a bit differently, always trying to stay ahead on how we make news. Generate brand engagement and in this case grow awareness and participation in our loyalty program.

As we updated you at Investor Day this platform with over 20 million active users has been a meaningful driver of sales performance and frequency over time, and I am very excited about the launch of this unique program. Franchisee profitability and unit economics matter. Franchisee profitability is at the center of everything we do at Domino's. We anticipate average US franchise store EBITDA to be in the range of $137,000 to $140,000 per store for 2018 with global cash-on-cash returns at better than a three-year payback. Very few in this industry and certainly our category will provide this figure.

We will continue providing information on store level economics, because it is a top priority for us and certainly should be for you as shareholders of any restaurant brand. The health of our business and system is heavily reliant on our franchisees' success. And their enterprise growth and profitability will be a certain priority for me as CEO. Few metrics demonstrate the relationship between store level economics and growth potential better than unit openings and most notably closures.

You have heard us discuss for several years now, how closures is a top indicator of the health of a franchise system and I'm thrilled to say that we closed only nine US stores in the full year 2018, nine when combined with international, our global closures number of 125, off of a base of nearly 16,000 stores is a true testament to strong global unit economics. A component of the Domino's story that gives me a great deal of confidence and belief in our long-term potential.

Our proven 4-wall economics continue to pace the industry and it's just another reason why there has never been a better time to be a growth-minded franchisee at Domino's. In closing, I'm very pleased with our fourth quarter and full year 2018 results. By focusing on the long-game and what matters, I am extremely confident that we are well positioned for success. 2019 is only the beginning of our pursuit to win and accomplish our long-term goal of dominant Number 1.

And with that, we're happy to take some questions.

Questions and Answers:

Operator

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Peter Saleh from BTIG. Your question please.

Peter Saleh -- BTIG -- Analyst

Hey, guys. Great, thanks. I just wanted to ask about the international, real quick on, I think you said the comp growth has been driven primarily by order growth. What's the dynamic going on the check? Are you seeing your franchisees internationally discount to drive some of that traffic or just any commentary on the check would be helpful.

Richard E. Allison -- Chief Executive Officer

Sure. Pete it's Ritch. On the check what we are consistently trying to do as a brand across the globe is to stay focused on value. We talk about it a lot in the US with 599 and 799, but we're also focused on it in our international markets as well. And the approach that our growth minded master franchisees are taking is really around driving transactions, driving order count as opposed to taking price increases over time. So what you saw in 2018 was really that continued focus to make sure that we're driving growth, the right way.

Peter Saleh -- BTIG -- Analyst

Great. And then just domestically, the comp growth while on present (ph) was still a little bit below what we were anticipating. Did you see any deterioration in delivery times or any shift in the consumer behavior in the fourth quarter versus prior or was this pretty much in line with your expectations?

Richard E. Allison -- Chief Executive Officer

We're really happy with the comp growth in the US in the fourth quarter. As stated earlier, it's a traffic driven comp which is exactly what we like to see with the business really healthy across all dimensions.

Peter Saleh -- BTIG -- Analyst

Alright, thank you very much.

Richard E. Allison -- Chief Executive Officer

Thank you.

Timothy P. McIntyre -- Executive Vice President, Communication, Legislative Affairs and Investor Relations

Hi everybody this is Tim. I'd like to reiterate, we really would like you to stick to just one question on this call, please.

Operator

Yes. Once again, ladies and gentlemen, please limit yourself to one question, you may get back in the queue as time allows.

Our next question comes from the line of Karen Holthouse from Goldman Sachs. Your question please.

Karen Holthouse -- Goldman Sachs -- Analyst

So, you previously talked about loyalty programs is something that come with sort of a natural pathway, is been one of the reasons, you expanded it outside of just digital transaction. Should we take the expanded points for Pie's promotion as an indication? That half-life was like starting to become more apparent in the existing program, and you needed a new jump start, can you just sort of put that in context, because the overall performance and confidence in the loyalty program as it exists.

Richard E. Allison -- Chief Executive Officer

Sure. Karen, the loyalty program has continued to be a significant driver of comps for us, since its launched now, little over gosh, three years ago now. And as we mentioned at Investor Day in January, we passed the mark of 20 million active users. The points for Pie's program is a terrific enhancement to that program and our loyalty program does have a half-life, and our approach was not to wait until we hit hours, but to continue to bring more news and to bring more interesting ways for consumers to sign-on with our program and get actively involved in it.

And I'll remind folks on the call that when we structured the loyalty program Our Piece of the Pie rewards back in 2015. It was done with the mind toward driving transactions, and everything about the program structure and the enhancements that we've made to it over time are all about making sure that we drive transactions and frequency with our customer base.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Matthew DiFrisco from Guggenheim Securities. Your question please.

Matthew DiFrisco -- Guggenheim Securities -- Analyst

Thank you. With respect to the comp and sort of that comment, I think about the calendar shift that you made. Is there anything else we should consider given the Easter comes later, so Lent, the timing of Lent occurring a little later. Does that play into the quarterly comp at all or some things to factor in? And then also with the comp assumption pricing calendar shift in a lot of our wages went up in certain states. Is that another factor to think about in 1Q, just a higher pricing domestically?

Jeffrey D. Lawrence -- Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

Yeah, Matt, it's Jeff. We'll primarily enter this for Q4 since we're in Q1 right now and we can't report on that. But what I can tell you is, it did hit us by about 0.5 point, the calendar shift. We'll get most of that back, obviously in Q1. As far as any kind of seasonality or quarter versus quarter start in 2019, not really that worried about it, that we're executing and putting up the numbers we want that'll be rounding here type of stuff.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of David Tarantino from Baird. Your question please.

David Tarantino -- Robert W. Baird -- Analyst

Hi, good morning. My question is on the domestic comp trends, and I know when you add back the calendar issue, and the comp in Q4 was pretty similar to what you had in Q3. But the comparison was quite a bit lower. So when you look at maybe at on a -- two-year stack basis, it does look like the business decelerated but I guess my question is that the way you look at it? Did the business decelerate and how does that change your thinking or does not change your thinking about your 3 to 6 comp target as you enter 2019?

Richard E. Allison -- Chief Executive Officer

Hi David, it's Ritch. The way I look at it is that the business did not decelerate from 2017 to 2018. We look at the full fiscal year 2017 versus 2018, looking at global retail sales, our US business, we were up 11.1% in fiscal 2017 and we were up 11.2% in fiscal 2018. If you took a look at the fourth quarter, we were up 7.6% in 2017, and we were up 10.2% in 2018. So we feel very good about our retail sales growth across the business, which is really the key metric that we take a look at. And we were very pleased with the comp in the fourth quarter for a couple of reasons. One, is that, it was driven by a very healthy dose of order count, growth -- transaction growth. And secondly, really, nicely within the range of our long-term expectations.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Sara Senatore from Bernstein. Your question please.

Sara Senatore -- Bernstein -- Analyst

Hi. Thanks. Just about the company-operated comps and that spread, I know it's a very small part of your system, but to the extent that company stores in the US, either bear greater sort of brand from splits or/are more affected by aggregators? And then, can you say anything about that sort of what appears to be kind of on a one and two year basis of widening gap for the company stores and whether that has any kind of portend for the system overall?

Richard E. Allison -- Chief Executive Officer

Yeah, in the -- Sara, in the company-owned stores as you know, those are concentrated in eight markets and you're primarily more urban type markets. So, certainly, you will see a little more impact from splits because all of the openings that we have in our corporate store business are going to be realignments of territories. And to the extent that there is an aggregator impact, certainly that's the areas where those folks are more focused. So we don't -- we don't see any concerns in the quarter from our corporate store growth. We feel very good about the growth and profitability in that business, but the characteristics are little more skewed toward the urban setting.

Operator

Thank you. Your next question comes from the line of John Glass from Morgan Stanley. Your question please.

John Glass -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst

Hi, thanks, good morning. You've talked about the split impact in the -- anticipated split impact in the US. I know you report your international comps without the split impact. What would that be -- maybe in the fourth quarter and if you trend it that overtime or is the impact of splits increasing over time internationally? Decreasing or is it been stable as we look at that business over in the last couple of years?

Richard E. Allison -- Chief Executive Officer

You know, John, we shared with you back at Investor Day, the point to point and a half on the US side of the business. We don't have a similar number to share with you on the international side, it's really going to, because it's really going to vary country by country, depending upon, what state of the growth curve that we happen to be in, in that particular country. And some of our markets where we are more penetrated today, you may see a little bit more of an impact there and other markets where we've got a lot of more -- a lot more white space left to fill, you're going to see less impact. But if we come back to our three to five year outlook for same-store sales growth of 3% to 6%, it takes into account, the fact that we will take some headwind on that due to the impact of fortressing in the splits. And as we talked about in our Investor Day, this is an investment that we're quite happy as a brand to make. And our franchisees have been quite happy to make, because it's necessary to drive the overall retail sales growth and overall profitability in the business, primarily at the franchisee level as well as the franchisor.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Gregory Francfort from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Your question please.

Gregory Francfort -- Bank of America, Merrill Lynch -- Analyst

Hey, guys. So just, I wanted to ask about international and maybe one, could you just tell me how many conversions you had in the quarter? And then just on the comps, I thought they were little softer than I was expecting. And I'm, -- because I'm curious what that might have been attributed to, and if the count came in below your expectations and kind of, if there is any regionality there?

Jeffrey D. Lawrence -- Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

Hi, Greg. We're not going to report specifically on the number of converted units the -- the conversion that was primarily happening in the fourth quarter was the continued conversion of Hallo Pizza in Germany and we've been very pleased with the progress that DPE is making there, and you could probably refer to their release from about 36 hours ago and get more of the details around that. With respect to the international comp, there is certainly we would love to see that number a bit higher.

It will just be fully transparent with you on that, because our trends over the longer-term has certainly been in a better place than where we were in the fourth quarter. That said, we are always going to have some ups and downs in the various markets around the world. In the fourth quarter we were softer in a few key markets in Europe and a few key markets in the Pacific region specifically. But when I take a look at the underlying health of those markets, we have strong market share positions, we have great unit economics and we've got strong management teams in place. And even with the little bit of weakness in the fourth quarter comp, when we step back and look at our retail sales growth, the product of that comp, and the unit growth that we're seeing -- I'm still quite pleased with the -- with the growth trajectory in the business.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Will Slabaugh from Stephens, Inc. Your question please.

Hugh Gooding -- Stephens, Inc. -- Analyst

Hey all, thanks for taking my questions. This is actually Hugh on for Will this morning. I was just hoping you could just parse out the comp a little bit more in 4Q. You said in your prepared remarks, the same-store sales growth included some ticket growth. I'm just curious if that check growth is a little bit more than we are accustomed to seeing and what was the driver of that? Thanks.

Jeffrey D. Lawrence -- Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

Yes, Hugh, it's Jeff. Real good comp in the fourth quarter for the US business, in addition to the retail sales growth, did a five, six, the majority of that was traffic. We did get a decent amount of what I would call smart ticket. So, using that -- using the analytics capabilities we have working with our franchisees to really figure out where the places where we can kind of grow ticket, but what I'll tell you, it wasn't a really nearly raised prices across the board, our franchisees aren't doing that. They're doing it more precision based using the analytics, and it's a good balance is what I would tell you. But, again primarily it was traffic with a little bit of what I'd call smart ticket sprinkled in there.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Chris O'Cull from Stifel. Your question please.

Chris O'Cull -- Stifel, Nicolaus & Company -- Analyst

Yeah, thanks. I had a follow-up regarding the corporate stores and I guess this applies to the franchise stores as well. But are there any opportunities to mitigate some of the cost pressures that you're seeing, especially around the labor to kind of slow the margin pressure we are seeing at stores?

Jeffrey D. Lawrence -- Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

Yes, this is Jeff. Within the store environment in the US and in many countries around the world, it can be challenging on multiple line items, and labor is certainly one of them. When you look at the -- our corporate store margins for the year, they were pressured pretty significantly on labor rate, now the operator of that business, great teams and the market that we're in, did a really nice job of generating some efficiencies, but it wasn't enough to overcome the increase in labor rate and labor rates really two-forms. One is government-mandated labor rate increases, which of course we follow, but also just that the fact that the economy as you know, is white hot right now, in the US, everybody has got a job and sometimes the economics of the situation demand that labor rates go up. So really, really don't have an opinion or care as to why it goes up, but we need to do it, to continue to drive those efficiencies.

And there are opportunities there, I think for us to continue to chase that, we're investing more in technology inside the store, we certainly done a great job with consumer facing, the point of sale, things like that. But we're really taking a fresh look at how we can use technology kind of behind the counter for labor scheduling for our corporate stores, sharing best practices to the extent that the franchisees who obviously make their own decisions in this regard, can learn from that. But yes, always opportunity in margin, labor, all of the big opportunity.

And I think as we go forward, driving the volume, driving that traffic will give us a better chance, an increase in dollar profit there. But, it is difficult environment with labor, but we just got to continue to work our way out of that.

Richard E. Allison -- Chief Executive Officer

Chris, just a couple of things to add to what Jeff was just describing in terms of some of our near-term efforts. The real game changer over time, on labor, is going to have to come from our efforts to fortress our markets. The most expensive thing that we do is take a pizza from point A to point B. And as we look forward over time to reducing the radius of these delivery areas, in addition to driving incremental sales for household, which we've talked about in the past, we are also looking to reduce the cost per delivery and it just makes sense. Of course, the shorter the distance, the shorter the drive time, getting that driver out from the store to the customer and back to the store, the lower the labor costs for that specific delivery.

And as we see wages rising in cities around the country, this is the key lever over the coming years in terms of reducing that delivery costs. To go alongside a lot of the things as Jeff described that we're trying to do around, being smarter about our scheduling and how we think about using technology to make the flow of product from the store out to the customer more efficient.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of John Ivankoe from JP Morgan. Your question please.

John Ivankoe -- JPMorgan Chase -- Analyst

Thank you very much. I know you guys have expressed your satisfaction with your fourth quarter comps in the US, but I'm wondering if you know think execution is optimal at the store level using instore employees and optimal in terms of availability of delivery drivers. Obviously I have heard now and I've heard before the comments about reducing delivery stands, but are you currently staffed the way that you want to be -- that you want to be or their execution issues that are popping up in various markets, that might be constraining comps from what they otherwise would be?

Richard E. Allison -- Chief Executive Officer

John, on execution we're never satisfied. We are as fast as we've ever been in getting out to the customer and we believe we're better than the competition, and competition, old and new, but we're never satisfied there. So the short answer is, yes, we need to get better, both in terms of the average time that it takes us to get pizza to our customers and also with the variability around those times. And that's something that we're working on each and every day. The driver labor market and availability of drivers certainly plays a part in that.

And as Jeff said, it is a very tight labor market right now. So we've got to make sure and our franchisees have got to make sure that Domino's Pizza is the best place for those drivers to work when they have many more choices today, than they had five years ago. So what does that mean for us, well, the most important thing in terms of driver wages and satisfaction is how many deliveries per hour to these drivers get. That drives the compensation.

And when we look at the places around the country where our franchisees have leaned in, and built out their store networks to fortress where we cut those delivery zones, down from 9 minutes down to 6 minutes or 5 minutes, we find that our drivers are making more money in turnover in those places is less. So it's not a short-term play, it's a long-term play, but we are very much focused on it, John, and we wanted to be a great place to work now, and also to create opportunities for our drivers of today to become the franchisees of tomorrow, 90% plus of our franchisees in the US started-off delivering pizzas or started-off answering the phones in our stores.

And one of the really terrific things that is happening right now with the resurgence in store growth in the US, is that we are developing new franchisees at a faster pace than we have in many years. And so we're attracting drivers, not only for the near term wages, but also for those that have the vision around the longer-term opportunity to potentially be a franchise owner at Domino's Pizza. We think we've got a terrific value proposition for them.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Jeremy Scott from Mizuho. Your question please.

Jeremy Scott -- Mizuho Securities USA LLC -- Analyst

Thank you. Just wanted to ask about your international store growth. Did that, first did that come in about as expected. And then secondly, as we look forward into 2019 and beyond should we be thinking about a step up in that development of some of your newer markets start to ramp up. And then separately, you talked about the G&A investments in your international teams where exactly is that going? And as you start to become a bit more dispersed in your geographical mix, does that mean you have to broaden out your investment in G&A?

Richard E. Allison -- Chief Executive Officer

So, Jeremy on the store growth we were very pleased with the fourth quarter, the international store growth. As we talked about on some of our calls earlier in the year, store growth got-off to a slower start than we wanted to see in the earlier part of the year. And our expectation at that time was that, it would pick up over the course of the year and we were pleasantly, very pleased to see that in fact happened. As we look out going forward, I remain very confident in our 6% to 8% outlook for store growth.

And I'd say that because the fundamentals of our four-wall economics in the business are still very solid with a payback in the international business of around three years on average with a number of our markets, even much faster than that. One of the things that happened in 2018, it also gives us confidence, is that we really seeing an acceleration in the BRIC markets in particular. And Russia, China, India, all had terrific years in 2018 for our store growth. And in Brazil, we're very optimistic going forward. We got new ownership in the market, they're building up the great foundation as the previous master franchisee put in place. So feel good about the three to five-year outlook and I feel very positive about our aspirational goal of 25,000 total stores globally by the end of 2025.

Your second question, I think you snuck a second one on me there was around G&A. And we're investing in our international business, really to help our franchisees continue to grow. And one of the things that we've talked a little bit about over the last several quarters, post the leadership change that we had here at Domino's is, we've been building some centers of excellence in our business, and that's something that, our Chief Operating Officer, Russell Weiner is working hard on every day. And the thought behind that is to take some of the capabilities that have driven our US business and make them more available to our international markets. And one of the areas there is around our data analytics and our decision support capabilities.

And so we're going to be looking over the years to come, to take some of the analytics, some of the data driven decision making that have helped us to be so successful in the US, and port that out to more of our international markets.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Dennis Geiger from UBS. Your question please.

Dennis Geiger -- UBS -- Analyst

Thanks for the question. Wanted to ask about market share in the quarter and specifically wondering if you saw any shift in the areas where you took share, specifically looking at the Independence relative to the larger brands, whether you're taking any incremental amount from the larger brands? And just perhaps if on the carryout side, you saw greater gains there given the increased focus over the last couple of quarters? Thanks.

Richard E. Allison -- Chief Executive Officer

Sure. So the short answer is, we continue to gain market share at a very healthy clip across the business, and that is, that's both in our US business and in our international businesses. In both of those businesses we grew at a very healthy multiple of the overall market growth rate. And one of the things that we shared back in January at our Investor Day, if you look even back across the last four years, more than 100% of the transaction growth in the US pizza category is being driven by Domino's. You pull Domino's out of the -- if you pull Domino's out of the overall market, you would see that their transaction declines, when you add up all the rest of the players.

Now that share shift comes from a number of different places. And frankly, we're fairly agnostic about whether we take share from the larger players or from some of the smaller and medium-sized players over time. Across the different elements of our business, we continue to grow our share both in delivery and in the carryout -- in the carryout business. When we take a look at it, even as the number one player overall now, we still have significant market share growth potential, given the fragmented nature of the category.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Jeffrey Bernstein from Barclays. Your question please.

Jeffrey Bernstein -- Barclays Bank PLC -- Analyst

Great. Thank you. First, Ritch, just want to compliment you on your television ads, it's nice to see you on a more regular basis.

Richard E. Allison -- Chief Executive Officer

Thanks, Jeff.

Jeffrey Bernstein -- Barclays Bank PLC -- Analyst

Sure. Separately, just on the international front and I recognize that, it's tough to make broad brush comments, when you're talking about so many different countries. But, the fact that the comp did come in slightly below the long-term range, it seems like it's the lowest in many years. Does it make the 3% to 6% guidance for the next multiple years look a little aggressive, just wondering, especially when you commented that, you had a couple of weaker markets, but in reality, all markets are positive. So it doesn't seem like there is a big headwind that you're all of a sudden going to be able to correct, seems like it's more just a slow and steady across pretty much all of your markets. So I'm just wondering how you think about or why you're confident in such a reacceleration or why not perhaps lower that long-term guidance, since we all know that I guess the total retail sales growth that you focus on?

Jeffrey D. Lawrence -- Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

Yes, Jeff, you know, as I mentioned earlier on the call -- we worked altogether that thrilled with the fourth quarter comp in the international business, but it doesn't diminish our confidence in our ability and our master franchisees ability to continue to drive same-store sales growth across international, over the longer-range outlook in that 3% to 6% range. And the fourth quarter number, the 2.4% is really it's a blend. We had some markets, while all regions were positive, we certainly had some markets that were negative. And we had some markets that were wildly positive, then when we take a look at the potential, particularly as we break down the largest international markets, that really drive the business and drive the overall number.

We and our master franchisees see opportunities to continue to perform better. In some cases, the short-term gets pressured by some macroeconomic factors. In some cases, our short-term is not where we want it to be, because, maybe we weren't executing at the level that we needed to. So we don't make any excuses for it, but we see, we're still quite confident in the opportunity going forward.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Jon Tower from Wells Fargo. Your question please.

Jon Tower -- Wells Fargo Securities -- Analyst

Great. Thanks. Just real quick, following up on that franchise -- international franchise side, the absolute unit closures on the international side was the highest, I think that I have on record here. So, I was curious if there is anything going on perhaps, there is something related to conversions. And then, just secondly on the US, you had mentioned the loyalty program it's been in place for up three years. And you mentioned, it's been a significant driver of traffic. So can you perhaps, breakdown how that program is driving same-store sales meaning? Are you seeing it from new member acquisition or is it building frequency with existing active members as well as building check with those members? Thanks.

Jeffrey D. Lawrence -- Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

So you snuck in too there also. You get sneaky from time-to-time. So, on the international closures, there were some closures in there associated with conversions. Whenever you do a conversion, there is always some overlap. And so, you would find, you would find some closures in there. We also had a few of our smaller markets, where we had a few more closures than we might typically do. And in those cases, places where we've got some unprofitable units or maybe some units that were opened, maybe not in exactly the right place. And it's the right thing to do, to close a unit, we hate to do it. But if it's the right thing for the overall health of that market, consistent with the long-term growth goals, then that's something that we're willing to take in the short-term.

To your second question around loyalty, and the answer there is kind of yes and yes. We're continuing to drive sales and engagement with existing loyalty members, while we continue to bring new members into our program. And the way we share the data with you when we talk about 20 million members, those are active members. So that is -- when we put somebody in that bucket, that is a customer that has ordered through our loyalty program within the last six months. And we continue to see terrific engagement from those that joined us three years ago, and those that have come on board in 2018.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Andrew Charles from Cowen & Company. Your question please.

Andrew Charles -- Cowen & Company -- Analyst

Thank you. When you look at the 500 basis points of deterioration in domestic to your trends from 3Q to 4Q, in both 2017 and 2018. Both of which include a 50 basis points headwind from the calendar shift. But do you think there is a new element of seasonality in the business that you believe is emerging? And if so, what you think is driving that?

Jeffrey D. Lawrence -- Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

Yeah, this is Jeff. The short answer is no, no more seasonality to the business than as ever been in there. Still a simple business, it's one where you just got to go out and execute every day. But now, no new seasonality or any impacts from that.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Alton Stump from Longbow Research. Your question please.

Alton Stump -- Longbow Research LLC -- Analyst

Good morning. Just wanted to ask about the 1% to 1.5% impact, you guys talked about in fortressing of 100 comp. I think by my count this was the seventh year in a row that you've seen your overall unit growth accelerate in the US. If that does continue to accelerate, is there any concern about in the kind of 1% to 1.5% that becoming a bigger number? Going forward, or is it, I'm not thinking about that correctly if we were to -- if we were to continue to see, it was unit growth expand in coming years?

Jeffrey D. Lawrence -- Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

Yeah. So when we -- when we look at unit growth going forward and when we engage in conversations with our franchisees about building new stores. We absolutely take into account what type of impact, we might have on the comps in the existing stores. And the way we look at new unit openings is, we take a look at the expected cash-on-cash return in that new units, but we also take a look at the expected payback across the overall cluster. So as an example, if there is an opportunity to carve out some territory and open a new store, the cash-on-cash return on that store might be 2.5 years. The cash-on-cash return on the cluster, that might be 4 years, 4.5 years. We look at this in each individual circumstance.

What I just share with you is just an example. But we are working with the franchisee and making sure that the new store makes sense, but also the impact on the cluster makes sense. Because we in the franchisees look at it as a near-term investment, giving up a little bit of comp in those existing stores to drive the long-term growth of their business and their profitability.

And one of the things that we are most excited about from 2018, is our franchise profitability. And I'm going to talk about that in two dimensions. The thing we talk about a lot, is the $137,000 to $140,000 per unit in franchisee profitability. But what we also think about a lot is the overall franchisee enterprise profitability. So our average franchisee today, now has almost seven stores. And what that means if you run your math, is that, an average franchisee is now generating over $900,000 in EBITDA. And that has been growing rapidly over the last several years. So we're focused on unit-level economics and we're very focused on franchisee economics.

Operator

Thank you. This does conclude the question-and-answer session of today's program. I'd like to hand the program back to Ritch Allison for any further remarks.

Richard E. Allison -- Chief Executive Officer

Well, thanks everyone. We appreciate your time today and we look forward to discussing our first quarter 2019 results on Wednesday, April 24.

Operator

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect. Good day.

Duration: 57 minutes

Call participants:

Timothy P. McIntyre -- Executive Vice President, Communication, Legislative Affairs and Investor Relations

Jeffrey D. Lawrence -- Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

Richard E. Allison -- Chief Executive Officer

Peter Saleh -- BTIG -- Analyst

Karen Holthouse -- Goldman Sachs -- Analyst

Matthew DiFrisco -- Guggenheim Securities -- Analyst

David Tarantino -- Robert W. Baird -- Analyst

Sara Senatore -- Bernstein -- Analyst

John Glass -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst

Gregory Francfort -- Bank of America, Merrill Lynch -- Analyst

Hugh Gooding -- Stephens, Inc. -- Analyst

Chris O'Cull -- Stifel, Nicolaus & Company -- Analyst

John Ivankoe -- JPMorgan Chase -- Analyst

Jeremy Scott -- Mizuho Securities USA LLC -- Analyst

Dennis Geiger -- UBS -- Analyst

Jeffrey Bernstein -- Barclays Bank PLC -- Analyst

Jon Tower -- Wells Fargo Securities -- Analyst

Andrew Charles -- Cowen & Company -- Analyst

Alton Stump -- Longbow Research LLC -- Analyst

More DPZ analysis

Transcript powered by AlphaStreet

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Image source: Getty Images.

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