KBC Group NV Grows Position in Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,639 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Papa Johns International were worth $273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PZZA. Irth Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Papa Johns International during the fourth quarter valued at about $66,883,000. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its position in Papa Johns International by 88.1% during the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,285,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,129,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070,485 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Papa Johns International in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $15,845,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Papa Johns International by 366.5% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 228,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,743,000 after purchasing an additional 179,653 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Papa Johns International by 19.3% during the third quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,091,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,812,000 after purchasing an additional 176,470 shares during the period.

Papa Johns International Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of PZZA opened at $39.82 on Tuesday. Papa Johns International, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.28 and a twelve month high of $76.91. The company has a 50 day moving average of $41.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.44. The company has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.19.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last issued its earnings results 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 analyst estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Papa Johns International, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Papa Johns International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.62%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Papa Johns International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America boosted 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. UBS Group dropped their price target on Papa Johns International from $56.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Papa Johns International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Papa Johns International from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.83.

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.