Fifth Third Bancorp Has $705,000 Stock Holdings in Papa John’s International, Inc. $PZZA

Fifth Third Bancorp decreased its stake in Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,412 shares of the company’s stock after selling 785 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Papa John’s International were worth $705,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Papa John’s International by 4.6% during the first quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Papa John’s International by 27.2% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Papa John’s International by 181.8% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 947 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 611 shares in the last quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. boosted its stake in Papa John’s International by 5.7% during the first quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 12,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $533,000 after buying an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in Papa John’s International by 4,646.7% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 712 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 697 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on PZZA. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Papa John’s International in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Papa John’s International from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Papa John’s International from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $52.00 price objective (up 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 set a $42.00 price objective (up from $38.00) on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Monday, August 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Papa John’s International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.33.

Papa John’s International Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of PZZA stock opened at $47.00 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $46.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.37. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.15. Papa John’s International, Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.16 and a 12 month high of $60.75.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $515.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Papa John’s International, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Papa John’s International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Papa John’s International’s payout ratio is presently 81.42%.

About Papa John’s International

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.