Farther Finance Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Papa John’s International, Inc. $PZZA

Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 181.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 947 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 611 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Papa John’s International were worth $46,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its stake in Papa John’s International by 34.7% in the first quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 776,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,885,000 after acquiring an additional 199,840 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 31.3% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 428,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,622,000 after purchasing an additional 102,137 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 399,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,423,000 after purchasing an additional 15,892 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Papa John’s International in the 1st quarter valued at about $14,348,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Papa John’s International by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 310,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,762,000 after buying an additional 62,103 shares during the last quarter.

Papa John’s International Trading Down 1.6%

PZZA stock opened at $46.57 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $46.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.46. Papa John’s International, Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.16 and a 52 week high of $60.75. The company has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Papa John’s International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Papa John’s International’s payout ratio is currently 81.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PZZA. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Papa John’s International in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Papa John’s International from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective (up from $38.00) on shares of Papa John’s International in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $52.00 target price (up from $50.00) on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Friday, August 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Papa John’s International has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.00.

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.