Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 9,203 Shares of Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 154,414 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,203 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.47% of Papa Johns International worth $8,318,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Seven Eight Capital LP lifted its position in Papa Johns International by 396.0% during the first quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 16,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 13,246 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 4.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,769,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,074,000 after acquiring an additional 166,246 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 worth $58,812,000 after acquiring an additional 176,470 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $46,280,000 after acquiring an additional 40,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 30.2% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,214,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,042,000 after acquiring an additional 281,399 shares during the last quarter.

Papa Johns International Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of PZZA stock opened at $47.85 on Tuesday. Papa Johns International, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.90 and a twelve month high of $78.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.56.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Papa Johns International had a negative return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 4.51%. The company had revenue of $506.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $497.28 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Papa Johns International, Inc. will post 2.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Papa Johns International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.85%. Papa Johns International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Papa Johns International from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Papa Johns International from $58.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Papa Johns International in a report on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Papa Johns International from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Papa Johns International from $61.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.82.

Papa Johns International Company Profile

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.