Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 57,265 Shares of Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 31.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 126,643 shares of the company’s stock after selling 57,265 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.39% of Papa Johns International worth $6,822,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 166,246 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Papa Johns International by 19.3% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in Papa Johns International by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 985,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,280,000 after acquiring an additional 40,996 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Papa Johns International by 30.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,214,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,042,000 after buying an additional 281,399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Papa Johns International during the first quarter valued at $1,142,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PZZA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Papa Johns International from $58.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Papa Johns International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on Papa Johns International from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Papa Johns International in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Papa Johns International in a report on Friday, November 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.82.

Papa Johns International Trading Up 1.2 %

PZZA stock opened at $47.86 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $51.73 and a 200-day moving average of $48.47. The company has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.19. Papa Johns International, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.90 and a 12-month high of $78.67.

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

Papa Johns International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. Papa Johns International’s payout ratio is currently 64.11%.

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.