Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $59.82.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PZZA shares. UBS Group lowered their target price on Papa Johns International from $56.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Papa Johns International in a research report on Monday. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Papa Johns International in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Papa Johns International from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Papa Johns International from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Papa Johns International

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PZZA. Atlas Brown Inc. raised its holdings in Papa Johns International by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 10,453 shares of the company's stock valued at $429,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares during the period. Irth Capital Management LP bought a new position in Papa Johns International in the 4th quarter worth about $66,883,000. Optimist Retirement Group LLC purchased a new position in Papa Johns International during the 3rd quarter valued at about $286,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Papa Johns International by 4.9% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 29,673 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,481,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Papa Johns International during the third quarter valued at about $312,000.

Papa Johns International Stock Up 0.9 %

Papa Johns International stock traded up $0.34 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $37.15. The stock had a trading volume of 669,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,369,135. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $46.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.11. Papa Johns International has a one year low of $36.25 and a one year high of $78.67. The stock has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.19.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Papa Johns International had a net margin of 4.51% and a negative return on equity of 19.61%. The business had revenue of $506.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $497.28 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Papa Johns International will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Papa Johns International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.95%. Papa Johns International's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.