Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $59.82.

PZZA has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on Papa Johns International from $56.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Papa Johns International in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Papa Johns International in a report on Friday, December 13th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Papa Johns International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Papa Johns International from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Papa Johns International

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Irth Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Papa Johns International during the 4th quarter worth $66,883,000. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Papa Johns International by 85.9% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 190,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,237,000 after purchasing an additional 87,801 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 19.3% during the third quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,091,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,812,000 after purchasing an additional 176,470 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Papa Johns International by 4.3% in the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 985,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,280,000 after buying an additional 40,996 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Papa Johns International by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 378,676 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,399,000 after buying an additional 28,883 shares during the last quarter.

Papa Johns International Price Performance

NASDAQ:PZZA opened at $36.81 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $46.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.11. Papa Johns International has a one year low of $36.25 and a one year high of $78.67.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $506.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $497.28 million. Papa Johns International had a net margin of 4.51% and a negative return on equity of 19.61%. Papa Johns International’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Papa Johns International will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Papa Johns International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.00%. Papa Johns International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.11%.

Papa Johns International Company Profile

Papa John’s International, Inc engages in the operation and franchise of pizza delivery and carryout restaurants. It operates through the following segments: Domestic Company-owned Restaurants, North America Franchising, North America Commissaries, International Operations, and All Others. The Domestic Company-Owned Restaurants segment consists of retail sales of pizza and side items, breadsticks, cheese sticks, chicken poppers and wings, dessert items, and canned and bottled beverages.