Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Given New $42.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) had its price target cut by Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $42.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on PZZA. KeyCorp lowered shares of Papa Johns International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Papa Johns International from $56.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Papa Johns International in a research report on Wednesday. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a research report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Papa Johns International from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Papa Johns International presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.33.

Papa Johns International Price Performance

Shares of PZZA opened at $36.85 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $45.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.91. Papa Johns International has a 1-year low of $36.25 and a 1-year high of $78.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of 12.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.19.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Papa Johns International had a negative return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 4.51%. The business had revenue of $506.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $497.28 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Papa Johns International will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Papa Johns International Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Papa Johns International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Papa Johns International

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Papa Johns International by 88.1% during the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,285,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,129,000 after buying an additional 1,070,485 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Papa Johns International by 25.9% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,170,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,991,000 after purchasing an additional 446,477 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Papa Johns International in the second quarter valued at approximately $93,586,000. Irth Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Papa Johns International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,883,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Papa Johns International by 30.2% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,214,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,042,000 after purchasing an additional 281,399 shares in the last quarter.

Papa Johns 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.