Raymond James & Associates Grows Stock Holdings in Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA - Free Report) by 82.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 164,569 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 74,438 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.50% of Papa Johns International worth $8,865,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PZZA. CWM LLC grew its stake in Papa Johns International by 65.6% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,325 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Papa Johns International during the 3rd quarter valued at about $156,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Papa Johns International by 16.8% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,609 shares of the company's stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in Papa Johns International by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,774 shares of the company's stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 379.7% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 3,315 shares of the company's stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 2,624 shares during the period.

Papa Johns International Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of PZZA traded down $0.91 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $51.45. The company had a trading volume of 533,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 975,259. Papa Johns International, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.90 and a 1-year high of $78.67. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.48. The stock has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.20.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $507.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $520.13 million. Papa Johns International had a net margin of 3.25% and a negative return on equity of 19.85%. Papa Johns International's revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Papa Johns International, Inc. will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Papa Johns International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. Papa Johns International's payout ratio is 81.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PZZA. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Papa Johns International from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Papa Johns International from $58.00 to $45.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Papa Johns International from $64.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Papa Johns International in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Papa Johns International from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Papa Johns International presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $59.00.

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.