KBC Group NV Raises Holdings in Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,639 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Papa Johns International were worth $273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Irth Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Papa Johns International in the fourth quarter valued at $66,883,000. Moody National Bank Trust Division raised its position in Papa Johns International by 142.3% during the fourth quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 22,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $930,000 after acquiring an additional 13,297 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in Papa Johns International by 85.9% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 190,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,237,000 after acquiring an additional 87,801 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 19.3% in the third quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,091,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,812,000 after purchasing an additional 176,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Papa Johns International by 8.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 378,676 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,399,000 after purchasing an additional 28,883 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PZZA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a report on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Papa Johns International from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Papa Johns International from $56.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Papa Johns International from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Papa Johns International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.83.

Papa Johns International Stock Performance

Papa Johns International stock opened at $39.82 on Tuesday. Papa Johns International, Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.28 and a 52 week high of $76.91. The business’s fifty day moving average is $41.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.44. The firm has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.19.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Papa Johns International had a net margin of 4.51% and a negative return on equity of 19.61%. The company had revenue of $506.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $497.28 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Papa Johns International, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Papa Johns International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.62%. Papa Johns International’s payout ratio is presently 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.