Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $50.50.

Several equities analysts have commented on PZZA shares. Mizuho upgraded shares of Papa John’s International to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Papa John’s International from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Papa John’s International in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Papa John’s International in a research note on Monday. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (down from $62.00) on shares of Papa John’s International in a research note on Monday, October 6th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Papa John’s International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,700,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,201,000 after acquiring an additional 161,906 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in Papa John’s International by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,628,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,409,000 after purchasing an additional 11,474 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its position in Papa John’s International by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,615,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,771,000 after purchasing an additional 10,756 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its stake in Papa John’s International by 27.3% in the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 1,174,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,546,000 after purchasing an additional 251,560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Papa John’s International by 2.0% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,108,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,380,000 after buying an additional 21,742 shares during the period.

Papa John’s International Price Performance

NASDAQ PZZA opened at $42.87 on Thursday. Papa John’s International has a 1-year low of $30.16 and a 1-year high of $55.74. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a PE ratio of 38.28, a P/E/G ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 1.16.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.08). Papa John’s International had a net margin of 1.79% and a negative return on equity of 13.54%. The firm had revenue of $508.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $523.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Papa John’s International will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Papa John’s International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th were given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. Papa John’s International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 164.29%.

Papa John’s 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.