Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Upgraded at Stifel Nicolaus

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) was upgraded by stock analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a $60.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $65.00. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price points to a potential downside of 6.63% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Papa John’s International from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Friday, January 5th. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Papa John’s International from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $87.00 price target on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Stephens began coverage on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.60.

Papa John’s International Price Performance

PZZA stock opened at $64.26 on Monday. Papa John’s International has a 12 month low of $60.24 and a 12 month high of $86.38. The firm has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a PE ratio of 26.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.52.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Papa John’s International

In other Papa John’s International news, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.21, for a total value of $202,626.06. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,320,228.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in Papa John’s International by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Papa John’s International by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT grew its stake in Papa John’s International by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 3,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Papa John’s International by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $191,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the last quarter.

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.