Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Sets New 1-Year Low at $60.24

Shares of Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $60.24 and last traded at $60.84, with a volume of 148291 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.69.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on PZZA shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $87.00 price target on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Friday, March 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Papa John’s International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $65.00 to $60.00 in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Papa John’s International in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Benchmark decreased their price objective on shares of Papa John’s International from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Papa John’s International from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Six 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.60.

Papa John’s International Trading Down 1.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.08, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $67.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.45.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $571.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.15 million. Papa John’s International had a negative return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 3.84%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Papa John’s International, Inc. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Papa John’s International news, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 18,804 shares in the company, valued at $1,320,228.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PZZA. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System bought a new position in Papa John’s International in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $823,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 40,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,796,000 after buying an additional 3,147 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Papa John’s International by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $461,000 after purchasing an additional 878 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC boosted 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 worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Papa John’s International by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $664,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares during the period.

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.