Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Has $552,000 Holdings in Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board trimmed its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 20.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,282 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,139 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Papa John’s International were worth $552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PZZA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Papa John’s International by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,769,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,074,000 after buying an additional 166,246 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Papa John’s International by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,698,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,502,000 after buying an additional 192,149 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Papa John’s International by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 932,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,124,000 after buying an additional 42,867 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in Papa John’s International by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 922,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,354,000 after buying an additional 55,227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its position in Papa John’s International by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 856,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,311,000 after buying an additional 20,939 shares during the last quarter.

Papa John’s International Stock Up 0.3 %

Papa John’s International stock traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $41.54. 965,362 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 957,592. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.40, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.02. Papa John’s International, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.56 and a fifty-two week high of $86.38.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $513.90 million for 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 quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Papa John’s International, Inc. will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Papa John’s International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. Papa John’s International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PZZA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Papa John’s International from $77.00 to $58.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Papa John’s International in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Papa John’s International from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Papa John’s International from $78.00 to $69.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on Papa John’s International from $78.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Papa John’s International news, CEO Ravi Thanawala bought 1,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 $2,039,797.20. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 8.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Papa John’s International Company 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.