Barnett & Company Inc. Buys Shares of 17,600 Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Key Points

• Barnett & Company Inc. acquired a new position in Papa John's International, purchasing 17,600 shares valued at approximately $723,000, bringing its ownership in the company to 0.05%.
• Papa John's reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.41, exceeding analysts' estimates, as well as a revenue of $529.17 million, which also surpassed expectations.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share, with a yield of 4.2%, reflecting a payout ratio of 81.42%.

Barnett & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 17,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $723,000. Barnett & Company Inc. owned 0.05% of Papa John's International at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in Papa John's International by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,589,991 shares of the company's stock valued at $106,371,000 after purchasing an additional 27,912 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its stake in Papa John's International by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,358,945 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,812,000 after purchasing an additional 173,316 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in Papa John's International by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,117,238 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,885,000 after purchasing an additional 85,236 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its stake in Papa John's International by 34.7% during the 1st quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 776,169 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,885,000 after purchasing an additional 199,840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Papa John's International by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 591,937 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,310,000 after purchasing an additional 15,513 shares in the last quarter.

Papa John's International Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PZZA traded up $1.98 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $46.12. The stock had a trading volume of 1,423,952 shares, compared to its average volume of 963,819. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $46.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.66. 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 capitalization of $1.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.13.

Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. Papa John's International had a negative return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 3.58%. The company had revenue of $529.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $515.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Papa John's International, Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Papa John's International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Papa John's International's dividend payout ratio is 81.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PZZA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Papa John's International from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Papa John's International from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $52.00 price objective (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a research note on Friday. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price target (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a research note on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $46.00 price target (up previously from $40.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a research note on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.89.

About Papa John's International

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.