Stephens Reiterates “Overweight” Rating for Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Stephens reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) in a research note published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. Stephens currently has a $75.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on PZZA. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Papa John’s International from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Benchmark reduced their target price on shares of Papa John’s International from $87.00 to $75.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 10th. BTIG Research cut Papa John’s International from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised Papa John’s International from a sell rating to a hold rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Papa John’s International from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Saturday, March 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Papa John’s International has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $76.36.

Papa John’s International Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PZZA opened at $47.62 on Thursday. Papa John’s International has a 1 year low of $46.81 and a 1 year high of $86.38. The firm has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.16, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $60.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.89.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $513.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $544.46 million. Papa John’s International had a negative return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 3.50%. The company’s revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Papa John’s International will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Papa John’s International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.86%. Papa John’s International’s dividend payout ratio is 81.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ravi Thanawala acquired 1,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $52.41 per share, for a total transaction of $99,579.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 38,920 shares in the company, valued at $2,039,797.20. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Ravi Thanawala bought 1,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $52.41 per share, for a total transaction of $99,579.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 38,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,039,797.20. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.21, for a total value of $202,626.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,804 shares in the company, valued at $1,320,228.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Papa John’s International

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PZZA. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Papa John’s International by 20.6% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 30,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,023,000 after buying an additional 5,199 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Papa John’s International by 45.9% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 23,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,533,000 after acquiring an additional 7,246 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in Papa John’s International by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,724,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,850,000 after acquiring an additional 93,325 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Papa John’s International by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,812,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares during the period. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 88.7% during the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 183,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,208,000 after buying an additional 86,181 shares during the last quarter.

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.