Benchmark Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Benchmark restated their buy rating on shares of Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $50.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on PZZA. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Papa Johns International from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Papa Johns International from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Papa Johns International from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Papa Johns International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.25.

Papa Johns International Trading Up 7.3%

Shares of Papa Johns International stock opened at $41.05 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $37.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.54. Papa Johns International has a 52 week low of $30.16 and a 52 week high of $60.75. The stock has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a PE ratio of 14.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.09.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $518.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $512.48 million. Papa Johns International had a net margin of 4.51% and a negative return on equity of 19.61%. Papa Johns International’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.67 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Papa Johns International will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Papa Johns International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.48%. Papa Johns International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.30%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Papa Johns International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PZZA. Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its stake in Papa Johns International by 142.3% during the 4th quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 22,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $930,000 after acquiring an additional 13,297 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 27.4% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 9,711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 2,088 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Papa Johns International during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,114,000.

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.