Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Earns "Outperform" Rating from Wedbush

Wedbush reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Free Report) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Wedbush currently has a $60.00 target price on the stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp lowered shares of Papa Johns International from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Papa Johns International from $56.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Papa Johns International from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $58.33.

Papa Johns International Price Performance

PZZA stock traded down $0.87 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $36.85. 1,288,635 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,586,253. The company has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.19. The stock's 50 day moving average is $45.47 and its 200 day moving average is $46.98. Papa Johns International has a 12-month low of $36.25 and a 12-month high of $78.67.

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

Papa Johns International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Papa Johns International's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.11%.

Institutional Trading of Papa Johns International

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Papa Johns International during the second quarter valued at about $93,586,000. Irth Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Papa Johns International during the 4th quarter worth approximately $66,883,000. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Papa Johns International by 88.1% in the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,285,665 shares of the company's stock valued at $123,129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070,485 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in Papa Johns International by 25.9% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,170,945 shares of the company's stock valued at $101,991,000 after purchasing an additional 446,477 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Papa Johns International during the third quarter worth $15,845,000.

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.