Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Shares of Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $50.79, but opened at $49.64. Papa Johns International shares last traded at $48.84, with a volume of 173,124 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PZZA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Papa Johns International in a report on Friday, November 8th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Papa Johns International from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Papa Johns International in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Papa Johns International from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of Papa Johns International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.82.

Papa Johns International Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.92.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Papa Johns International had a negative return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 4.51%. The business had revenue of $506.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $497.28 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Papa Johns International, Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Papa Johns International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. Papa Johns International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.11%.

Institutional Trading of Papa Johns International

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PZZA. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 66.9% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 6.6% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its position in Papa Johns International by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 28,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,877,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Papa Johns International by 27.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in Papa Johns International by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 16,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $780,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter.

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.