Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Trading 4.4% Higher – Time to Buy?

Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) traded up 4.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $39.19 and last traded at $39.46. 213,577 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 1,670,244 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.79.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PZZA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Papa Johns International from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Papa Johns International from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Papa Johns International from $73.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Papa Johns International in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.83.

Papa Johns International Stock Up 5.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $43.40 and its 200-day moving average is $46.63.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Papa Johns International had a net margin of 4.51% and a negative return on equity of 19.61%. The business had revenue of $506.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $497.28 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Papa Johns International, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Papa Johns International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.62%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Papa Johns International’s dividend payout ratio is 64.11%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Papa Johns International

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PZZA. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 88.1% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,285,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,129,000 after buying an additional 1,070,485 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Papa Johns International by 25.9% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,170,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,991,000 after purchasing an additional 446,477 shares in the last quarter. Irth Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Papa Johns International in the fourth quarter worth $66,883,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 19.3% during the third quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,091,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,812,000 after purchasing an additional 176,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its stake in shares of Papa Johns International by 55.9% in the second quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 516,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,244,000 after buying an additional 185,036 shares in the last quarter.

Papa Johns 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.