Guidance Capital Inc. Purchases New Stake in Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Guidance Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,280 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $479,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Papa Johns International by 66.9% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 646 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Papa Johns International in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Papa Johns International by 225.4% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,331 shares of the company's stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 922 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised 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 valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Papa Johns International in the 3rd quarter valued at about $156,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PZZA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Papa Johns International from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Papa Johns International from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group cut 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. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Papa Johns International in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Papa Johns International in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Eight equities research 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 company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $55.83.

Papa Johns International Price Performance

NASDAQ PZZA traded down $1.11 on Friday, reaching $38.05. The company had a trading volume of 1,115,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,443,452. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.19. Papa Johns International, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.28 and a 1 year high of $76.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $41.35 and a 200-day moving average of $46.32.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The company 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 business's revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Papa Johns International, Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Papa Johns International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Papa Johns International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.11%.

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.