Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Given “Overweight” Rating at Stephens

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating restated by investment analysts at Stephens in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $75.00 price target on the stock. Stephens’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 31.28% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. BTIG Research downgraded Papa John’s International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Papa John’s International from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $87.00 price target on shares of Papa John’s International in a research note on Friday, March 1st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Papa John’s International from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Papa John’s International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.60.

Papa John’s International Price Performance

Shares of PZZA stock opened at $57.13 on Thursday. Papa John’s International has a 1-year low of $57.03 and a 1-year high of $86.38. The company has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.22, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.11.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.18. Papa John’s International had a negative return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 3.84%. The firm had revenue of $571.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.15 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Papa John’s International will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Papa John’s International

In other Papa John’s International news, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.21, for a total value of $202,626.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,320,228.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purchased a new position in Papa John’s International during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,368,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Papa John’s International by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,479,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,381,000 after purchasing an additional 353,832 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Papa John’s International by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 146,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,158,000 after purchasing an additional 14,650 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Papa John’s International by 731.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 62,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,263,000 after buying an additional 54,949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in Papa John’s International by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 21,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,493,000 after buying an additional 7,521 shares during the last quarter.

Papa John’s International Company Profile

Papa John's International, Inc operates and franchises pizza delivery and carryout restaurants under the Papa John's trademark in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Domestic Company-Owned Restaurants, North America Commissaries, North America Franchising, and International Operations.