Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Trading Up 4.4% – Here’s Why

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Papa Johns International in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Papa Johns International from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Papa Johns International in a research note on Monday, January 13th. KeyCorp lowered Papa Johns International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Papa Johns International from $56.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Papa Johns International currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.83.

Papa Johns International Stock Down 2.3 %

The business has a fifty day moving average of $43.04 and a 200 day moving average of $46.54. The company has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.19.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $497.28 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Papa Johns International, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Papa Johns International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.72%. Papa Johns International’s payout ratio is 64.11%.

Institutional Trading of Papa Johns International

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PZZA. Irth Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Papa Johns International in the 4th quarter worth $66,883,000. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $123,129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070,485 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Papa Johns International in the third quarter worth approximately $15,845,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Papa Johns International by 366.5% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 228,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,743,000 after purchasing an additional 179,653 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its stake in Papa Johns International by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,091,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,812,000 after buying an additional 176,470 shares during the last quarter.

About Papa Johns International

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.