Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Trading Up 4.4% – What’s Next?

Shares of Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) rose 4.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $39.19 and last traded at $39.46. Approximately 213,577 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 1,670,244 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.79.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on PZZA. UBS Group decreased their target price on Papa Johns International from $56.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Papa Johns International from $73.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. KeyCorp cut shares of Papa Johns International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Papa Johns International in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.83.

Papa Johns International Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.54.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $506.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $497.28 million. Papa Johns International had a negative return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 4.51%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Papa Johns International, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Papa Johns International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.72%. Papa Johns International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.11%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Papa Johns International in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,114,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Papa Johns International by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 551 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Papa Johns International by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Papa Johns International by 27.4% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 9,711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 2,088 shares during the period. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 142.3% in the 4th quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 22,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $930,000 after acquiring an additional 13,297 shares during the last quarter.

About Papa Johns International

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.