Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Lifted to “Hold” at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $60.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $65.00.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on PZZA. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Papa John’s International from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Benchmark dropped their price objective on Papa John’s International from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and issued a $87.00 price objective on shares of Papa John’s International in a research note on Friday, March 1st. BTIG Research cut Papa John’s International from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Papa John’s International from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Six 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $81.60.

Papa John’s International Price Performance

Shares of PZZA stock opened at $62.91 on Monday. Papa John’s International has a 1 year low of $60.24 and a 1 year high of $86.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.49. The company has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a PE ratio of 25.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.14.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $571.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Papa John’s International will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Papa John’s International Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. Papa John’s International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Papa John’s International news, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of Papa John’s International 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,320,228.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 8.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Papa John’s International

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Papa John’s International by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 41,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,759,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Papa John’s International in the 1st quarter valued at about $413,000. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board purchased a new position in shares of Papa John’s International in the 1st quarter valued at about $453,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Papa John’s International by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 32,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Papa John’s International by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter.

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.