Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $59.82.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective 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. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Papa Johns International in a research report on Friday, December 13th. KeyCorp downgraded Papa Johns International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a report on Friday, December 13th.

Papa Johns International Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of PZZA stock opened at $36.81 on Monday. Papa Johns International has a 12 month low of $36.25 and a 12 month high of $78.67. The company has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $46.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.11.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $506.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Papa Johns International will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Papa Johns International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Papa Johns International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.11%.

Institutional Trading of Papa Johns International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Papa Johns International in the second quarter valued at $93,586,000. Irth Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Papa Johns International in the 4th quarter valued at about $66,883,000. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Papa Johns International by 88.1% in the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,285,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070,485 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 446,477 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Papa Johns International during the third quarter worth approximately $15,845,000.

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.