Cetera Investment Advisers Acquires Shares of 10,409 Papa John’s International, Inc. $PZZA

Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new stake in shares of Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 10,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $428,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Papa John’s International by 117.4% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 49,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,040,000 after buying an additional 26,505 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in Papa John’s International during the 1st quarter worth approximately $230,000. Templeton & Phillips Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Papa John’s International by 119.6% during the 1st quarter. Templeton & Phillips Capital Management LLC now owns 92,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,791,000 after buying an additional 50,260 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Papa John’s International by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 166,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,825,000 after buying an additional 18,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in Papa John’s International during the 1st quarter worth approximately $509,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on PZZA. Stifel Nicolaus set a $42.00 target price on Papa John’s International and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Monday, August 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Papa John’s International from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $52.00 price target (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $42.00 price target (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Monday, August 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.33.

Papa John’s International Price Performance

PZZA opened at $47.57 on Monday. Papa John’s International, Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.16 and a 12 month high of $60.75. The stock has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $46.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.86.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. Papa John’s International had a negative return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 3.58%. The company had revenue of $529.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $515.48 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Papa John’s International, Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Papa John’s International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Papa John’s International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.42%.

Papa John’s International 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.