Brandes Investment Partners LP Reduces Holdings in Papa John’s International, Inc. $PZZA

Brandes Investment Partners LP trimmed its position in shares of Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 49.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 371,409 shares of the company’s stock after selling 365,620 shares during the quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Papa John’s International were worth $14,296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Papa John’s International by 10.5% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,700,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,201,000 after purchasing an additional 161,906 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Papa John’s International by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,657,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,816,000 after purchasing an additional 42,810 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Papa John’s International by 0.7% during the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,628,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,409,000 after purchasing an additional 11,474 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its stake in shares of Papa John’s International by 27.3% during the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 1,174,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,546,000 after purchasing an additional 251,560 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 21,742 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PZZA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Papa John’s International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Papa John’s International in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Papa John’s International from $45.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Papa John’s International from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Benchmark decreased their price target on shares of Papa John’s International from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.50.

Papa John’s International Price Performance

NASDAQ:PZZA opened at $31.73 on Thursday. Papa John’s International, Inc. has a 1-year low of $29.55 and a 1-year high of $55.74. The company has a 50-day moving average of $34.32 and a 200 day moving average of $35.86. The firm has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 38.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.15.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.08). Papa John’s International had a negative return on equity of 10.71% and a net margin of 1.37%.The business had revenue of $478.61 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $485.51 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Papa John’s International, Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Papa John’s International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.8%. Papa John’s International’s dividend payout ratio is 221.69%.

Papa John’s International Company Profile

Papa John’s International, Inc is a leading American pizza restaurant chain known for its focus on high-quality ingredients and consistent product offerings. Founded in 1984 by John Schnatter in Jeffersonville, Indiana, the company has grown to operate thousands of restaurants across the United States and in more than 40 international markets. Papa John’s restaurants are primarily franchised, supported by a network of corporate-owned outlets that together drive brand standards, operational guidance and marketing efforts.

The core menu at Papa John’s centers on a variety of hand-tossed and pan pizzas made with a signature stone-baked crust and topped with real cheese, vine-ripened tomato sauce and premium meats and vegetables.