Raymond James & Associates Buys 74,438 Shares of Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 82.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 164,569 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 74,438 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.50% of Papa Johns International worth $8,865,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Papa Johns International in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $93,586,000. Cowen AND Company LLC acquired a new position in Papa Johns International in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,736,000. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Papa Johns International by 25.9% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,170,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,991,000 after acquiring an additional 446,477 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 30.2% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,214,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,042,000 after purchasing an additional 281,399 shares during the period. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its stake in shares of Papa Johns International by 55.9% in the second quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 516,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,244,000 after purchasing an additional 185,036 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PZZA has been the topic of several recent research reports. KeyCorp cut their target price on Papa Johns International from $64.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Papa Johns International from $58.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Papa Johns International from $58.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Papa Johns International from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Papa Johns International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.00.

Papa Johns International Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PZZA opened at $52.36 on Wednesday. Papa Johns International, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.90 and a 52 week high of $78.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $50.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.55. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.20.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $507.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $520.13 million. Papa Johns International had a negative return on equity of 19.85% and a net margin of 3.25%. Papa Johns International’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Papa Johns International, Inc. will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Papa Johns International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. Papa Johns International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.78%.

About Papa Johns International

Papa John’s International, Inc operates and franchises pizza delivery and carryout restaurants under the Papa John’s trademark in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Domestic Company-Owned Restaurants, North America Commissaries, North America Franchising, and International Operations.