River Road Asset Management LLC Has $123.13 Million Stock Position in Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 88.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,285,665 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,070,485 shares during the quarter. Papa Johns International accounts for approximately 1.6% of River Road Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. River Road Asset Management LLC owned about 0.07% of Papa Johns International worth $123,129,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Papa Johns International by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,769,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,074,000 after acquiring an additional 166,246 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Papa Johns International by 25.9% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,170,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,991,000 after purchasing an additional 446,477 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Papa Johns International during the second quarter worth $93,586,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 30.2% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,214,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,042,000 after purchasing an additional 281,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Papa Johns International by 19.3% in the third quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,091,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,812,000 after purchasing an additional 176,470 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on PZZA. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Papa Johns International from $61.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Papa Johns International from $58.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Papa Johns International from $58.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Papa Johns International in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Papa Johns International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.00.

Papa Johns International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PZZA opened at $56.14 on Tuesday. Papa Johns International, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.90 and a 1 year high of $78.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.26.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.08. Papa Johns International had a negative return on equity of 19.85% and a net margin of 3.25%. The company had revenue of $507.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $520.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Papa Johns International, Inc. will post 2.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Papa Johns International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Papa Johns International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.46%.

Papa Johns International 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.