Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Coverage Initiated at Stephens

Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) in a report published on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock.

PZZA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Papa John’s International from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Saturday, March 9th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Papa John’s International from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Benchmark dropped their price target on Papa John’s International from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Oppenheimer restated a market perform rating on shares of Papa John’s International in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $87.00 target price on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Friday, March 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $82.10.

Papa John’s International Price Performance

PZZA stock opened at $61.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a PE ratio of 25.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.14. Papa John’s International has a 12 month low of $60.66 and a 12 month high of $86.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.68.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.18. Papa John’s International had a negative return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 3.84%. The business had revenue of $571.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.15 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Papa John’s International will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Papa John’s International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. Papa John’s International’s dividend payout ratio is 74.80%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of Papa John’s International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.21, for a total transaction of $202,626.06. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,320,228.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 8.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Papa John’s International

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cutler Group LLC CA bought a new position in Papa John’s International in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 396.5% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Papa John’s International in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Papa John’s International during the 1st quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in Papa John’s International in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000.

Papa John’s International Company Profile

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.