Fifth Third Bancorp Sells 16,868 Shares of Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Fifth Third Bancorp reduced its stake in shares of Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 52.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,197 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,868 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Papa John’s International were worth $624,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PZZA. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Papa John’s International by 117.3% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,118,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,933,000 after acquiring an additional 603,650 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Papa John’s International during the fourth quarter worth approximately $17,328,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its stake in Papa John’s International by 131.4% during the fourth quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 576,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,670,000 after acquiring an additional 327,300 shares during the last quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC increased its stake in Papa John’s International by 124.8% during the fourth quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 540,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,206,000 after acquiring an additional 300,138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Long Focus Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Papa John’s International during the fourth quarter worth approximately $7,393,000.

Papa John’s International Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PZZA opened at $49.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.89, a PEG ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $39.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.48. Papa John’s International, Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.16 and a 52-week high of $60.75.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $518.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $512.48 million. Papa John’s International had a negative return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 3.77%. Papa John’s International’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.67 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Papa John’s International, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Papa John’s International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. Papa John’s International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on PZZA. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Papa John’s International in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Papa John’s International in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Northcoast Research upgraded Papa John’s International to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Papa John’s International from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Papa John’s International from $45.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.25.

Papa John’s 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.