Stephens Reaffirms “Overweight” Rating for Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by research analysts at Stephens in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $75.00 target price on the stock. Stephens’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 53.09% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on PZZA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Papa John’s International from $77.00 to $58.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Papa John’s International from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 10th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Papa John’s International from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Papa John’s International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, BTIG Research cut Papa John’s International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.36.

Papa John’s International Trading Down 0.2 %

PZZA opened at $48.99 on Thursday. Papa John’s International has a 12-month low of $48.67 and a 12-month high of $86.38. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.18. The company has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.16.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.09. Papa John’s International had a negative return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 3.50%. The business had revenue of $513.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $544.46 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Papa John’s International will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Papa John’s International

In other Papa John’s International news, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.21, for a total transaction of $202,626.06. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,320,228.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Papa John’s International news, CEO Ravi Thanawala bought 1,900 shares of Papa John’s International stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $52.41 per share, for a total transaction of $99,579.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 38,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,039,797.20. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of Papa John’s International stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 18,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,320,228.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Papa John’s International

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Papa John’s International by 4.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,769,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,074,000 after purchasing an additional 166,246 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Papa John’s International by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,724,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,850,000 after purchasing an additional 93,325 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Papa John’s International by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,698,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,502,000 after purchasing an additional 192,149 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in Papa John’s International by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 944,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,878,000 after purchasing an additional 21,198 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Papa John’s International by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 932,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,124,000 after purchasing an additional 42,867 shares during the period.

About Papa John’s International

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.