Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $58.82.

Several research firms have recently commented on PZZA. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Papa Johns International in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Papa Johns International from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on Papa Johns International from $58.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Papa Johns International from $58.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th.

Institutional Trading of Papa Johns International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PZZA. 1832 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Papa Johns International in the second quarter valued at approximately $93,586,000. Cowen AND Company LLC purchased a new stake in Papa Johns International in the 2nd quarter worth $32,736,000. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in Papa Johns International by 25.9% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,170,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,991,000 after acquiring an additional 446,477 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Papa Johns International during the fourth quarter worth $29,204,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Papa Johns International by 30.2% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,214,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,042,000 after purchasing an additional 281,399 shares in the last quarter.

Papa Johns International Trading Up 2.4 %

Papa Johns International stock opened at $50.80 on Tuesday. Papa Johns International has a 12 month low of $39.90 and a 12 month high of $78.67. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.15. The firm has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.58, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.19.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.08. Papa Johns International had a negative return on equity of 19.85% and a net margin of 3.25%. The business had revenue of $507.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $520.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. Papa Johns International’s revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Papa Johns International will post 2.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Papa Johns International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. Papa Johns International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.78%.

About Papa Johns 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.