Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Reaches New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) reached a new 52-week low on Thursday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $55.00 to $42.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the stock. Papa Johns International traded as low as $35.92 and last traded at $35.94, with a volume of 93123 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $36.85.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on PZZA. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a research note on Monday. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Papa Johns International in a research note on Wednesday. KeyCorp cut Papa Johns International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Papa Johns International from $56.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Papa Johns International from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Papa Johns International currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. 1832 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Papa Johns International during the 2nd quarter worth $93,586,000. Irth Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Papa Johns International in the fourth quarter valued at about $66,883,000. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Papa Johns International by 88.1% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,285,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,129,000 after buying an additional 1,070,485 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Papa Johns International by 25.9% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,170,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,991,000 after buying an additional 446,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Papa Johns International during the third quarter worth about $15,845,000.

Papa Johns International Stock Down 0.6 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.84. The company has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of 12.76, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.19.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $506.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $497.28 million. Papa Johns International had a negative return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 4.51%. Papa Johns International’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. Analysts expect that Papa Johns International, Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

Papa Johns International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.03%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Papa Johns International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.11%.

About Papa Johns International

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.