Wedbush Predicts Lower Earnings for Papa Johns International

Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) – Investment analysts at Wedbush decreased their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Papa Johns International in a report issued on Wednesday, January 15th. Wedbush analyst N. Setyan now expects that the company will post earnings per share of $2.10 for the year, down from their previous forecast of $2.16. Wedbush has a “Outperform” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Papa Johns International’s current full-year earnings is $2.21 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Papa Johns International’s Q4 2024 earnings at $0.40 EPS and Q1 2025 earnings at $0.60 EPS.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The business 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 was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS.

Several other research firms also recently commented on PZZA. 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 report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Papa Johns International from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America boosted their price target 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. KeyCorp lowered Papa Johns International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Papa Johns International in a research note on Monday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.33.

Papa Johns International Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PZZA opened at $36.61 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $44.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.84. Papa Johns International has a 52-week low of $35.50 and a 52-week high of $78.67. The company has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.19.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Papa Johns International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its stake in shares of Papa Johns International by 142.3% during the fourth quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 22,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $930,000 after buying an additional 13,297 shares during the period. Atlas Brown Inc. boosted its holdings in Papa Johns International by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 10,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $429,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Irth Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Papa Johns International during the 4th quarter worth approximately $66,883,000. Optimist Retirement Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Papa Johns International during the third quarter valued at $286,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Papa Johns International by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 29,673 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,481,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the period.

Papa Johns International Dividend Announcement

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