Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Upgraded by Stifel Nicolaus to “Hold”

Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $60.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $65.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on PZZA. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Papa John’s International from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Papa John’s International from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $87.00 price objective on shares of Papa John’s International in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Benchmark lowered their price objective on shares of Papa John’s International from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a market perform rating on shares of Papa John’s International in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Papa John’s International has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $81.60.

Papa John’s International Price Performance

Shares of PZZA opened at $63.22 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.14. Papa John’s International has a 1 year low of $60.24 and a 1 year high of $86.38. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.52.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $571.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.15 million. Papa John’s International had a net margin of 3.84% and a negative return on equity of 19.46%. Papa John’s International’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Papa John’s International will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Papa John’s International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Papa John’s International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.80%.

Insider Activity

In other Papa John’s International news, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.21, for a total transaction of $202,626.06. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,320,228.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PZZA. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Papa John’s International by 6.7% in the first quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its position in Papa John’s International by 22.5% during the 1st quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 8,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 1,483 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Papa John’s International by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,603,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,705,000 after buying an additional 123,995 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Papa John’s International by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,698,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,502,000 after acquiring an additional 192,149 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. MA raised its position in Papa John’s International by 30.3% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 51,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,945,000 after acquiring an additional 12,037 shares in the last quarter.

About Papa John’s 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.