Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases Shares of 16,400 Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 16,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,250,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System owned 0.05% of Papa John’s International at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cutler Group LLC CA acquired a new position in shares of Papa John’s International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake 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 valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Papa John’s International by 89.3% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Papa John’s International during the third quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of Papa John’s International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $114,000.

Papa John’s International Stock Performance

Papa John’s International stock opened at $63.22 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $68.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.52. Papa John’s International, Inc. has a 52 week low of $60.24 and a 52 week high of $86.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.14.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $571.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Papa John’s International, Inc. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Papa John’s International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Papa John’s International’s payout ratio is presently 74.80%.

Insider Activity at Papa John’s International

In related news, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of Papa John’s International stock in a transaction on 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 owns 18,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,320,228.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PZZA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of 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 decreased 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 research report on Friday, March 22nd. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Papa John’s International from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Papa John’s International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Papa John’s International in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.60.

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.