Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Hits New 12-Month Low at $60.24

Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $60.24 and last traded at $60.65, with a volume of 30858 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $60.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on PZZA shares. KeyCorp dropped their price objective 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Papa John’s International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 9th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $87.00 price target on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Friday, March 1st. Benchmark lowered their price target on shares of Papa John’s International from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Papa John’s International from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.10.

Papa John’s International Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a PE ratio of 24.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.57.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $571.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $578.15 million. Papa John’s International had a net margin of 3.84% and a negative return on equity of 19.46%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Papa John’s International, Inc. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Papa John’s International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Papa John’s International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.80%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.21, for a total value of $202,626.06. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,804 shares in the company, valued at $1,320,228.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Papa John’s International

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Papa John’s International during the third quarter valued at about $102,786,000. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Papa John’s International by 315.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,348,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,023,713 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Papa John’s International by 397.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,127,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,465,000 after purchasing an additional 900,649 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Papa John’s International in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,219,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Papa John’s International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,204,000.

About Papa John’s International

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.