Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) Shares Bought by Everence Capital Management Inc.

Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 42.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,490 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,640 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Papa John’s International were worth $419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cutler Group LLC CA acquired a new position in shares of Papa John’s International during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Papa John’s International during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Papa John’s International during the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Papa John’s International by 277.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 733 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 539 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of Papa John’s International during the second quarter worth approximately $59,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on PZZA. BTIG Research cut Papa John’s International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. KeyCorp dropped their target price on 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. Stephens began coverage on Papa John’s International in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut Papa John’s International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Friday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.10.

Papa John’s International Stock Performance

NASDAQ PZZA opened at $61.35 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.14. Papa John’s International, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.24 and a 1 year high of $86.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $68.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.51.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last announced its earnings results 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. Papa John’s International had a net margin of 3.84% and a negative return on equity of 19.46%. The company had revenue of $571.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $578.15 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Papa John’s International, Inc. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Papa John’s International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. Papa John’s International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.80%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.21, for a total transaction of $202,626.06. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,320,228.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 8.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Papa John’s International 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.