Wedbush Trims Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Target Price to $51.00

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) had its price objective decreased by Wedbush from $65.00 to $51.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Wedbush currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Papa John’s International from $77.00 to $58.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Benchmark lowered their price objective on Papa John’s International from $87.00 to $75.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Stephens reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Papa John’s International from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $69.70.

Papa John’s International Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of PZZA stock opened at $42.47 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $45.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.32. Papa John’s International has a 12 month low of $39.90 and a 12 month high of $84.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.88, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.16.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last announced 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. Papa John’s International had a negative return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 3.50%. The firm had revenue of $513.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $544.46 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Papa John’s International will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Papa John’s International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.33%. Papa John’s International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Papa John’s International news, CEO Ravi Thanawala acquired 1,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $52.41 per share, with a total value of $99,579.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 38,920 shares in the company, valued at $2,039,797.20. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Papa John’s International

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PZZA. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Papa John’s International in the fourth quarter valued at $29,204,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Papa John’s International by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 889,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,838,000 after buying an additional 232,177 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Papa John’s International by 12.8% in the fourth 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 period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Papa John’s International by 4.6% in the first 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 period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Papa John’s International by 5.7% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,724,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,850,000 after buying an additional 93,325 shares during the period.

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.