Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA – Get Rating) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Sunday.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on PZZA. Stephens increased their price objective on Papa John’s International from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 24th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Papa John’s International in a research note on Monday, February 27th. Wedbush decreased their target price on Papa John’s International from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Papa John’s International from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 7th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Papa John’s International in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $103.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.33.

Papa John’s International Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PZZA opened at $77.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.72. Papa John’s International has a 52 week low of $66.74 and a 52 week high of $108.53.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $526.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $524.08 million. Papa John’s International had a negative return on equity of 43.32% and a net margin of 3.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Papa John’s International will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Papa John’s International

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Papa John’s International by 315.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,348,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023,713 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Papa John’s International by 824.4% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 616,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,512,000 after purchasing an additional 550,039 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Papa John’s International by 192.1% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 641,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,934,000 after acquiring an additional 422,115 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Papa John’s International by 4,397.4% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 364,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,974,000 after acquiring an additional 356,059 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Papa John’s International by 9.1% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,243,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,085,000 after acquiring an additional 354,372 shares during the last quarter. 99.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Papa John’s International Company Profile

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Papa John’s International, Inc operates and franchises 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 the operations of all domestic company-owned restaurants and derives its revenues principally from retail sales of pizza and side items, including breadsticks, cheese sticks, chicken poppers and wings, dessert items, and canned or bottled beverages.