Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Given Overweight Rating at Stephens

Stephens reissued their overweight rating on shares of Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $62.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. KeyCorp lowered Papa Johns International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. 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 research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Papa Johns International from $56.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.33.

Papa Johns International Stock Performance

Shares of PZZA opened at $36.85 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of 12.84, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $45.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.91. Papa Johns International has a fifty-two week low of $36.25 and a fifty-two week high of $78.67.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $506.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $497.28 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. Papa Johns International’s revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Papa Johns International will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

Papa Johns International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.99%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Papa Johns International’s payout ratio is 64.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Papa Johns International

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Papa Johns International by 66.9% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 27.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 12.2% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. boosted its holdings in Papa Johns International by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 10,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Papa Johns International during the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000.

Papa Johns International Company Profile

Papa John’s International, Inc engages in the operation and franchise of pizza delivery and carryout restaurants. It operates through the following segments: Domestic Company-owned Restaurants, North America Franchising, North America Commissaries, International Operations, and All Others. The Domestic Company-Owned Restaurants segment consists of retail sales of pizza and side items, breadsticks, cheese sticks, chicken poppers and wings, dessert items, and canned and bottled beverages.