Boothbay Fund Management LLC Sells 50,745 Shares of Papa John's International, Inc. $PZZA

Key Points

• Boothbay Fund Management LLC reduced its stake in Papa John's International by 9.4%, selling 50,745 shares and now owning 489,949 shares worth approximately $20.1 million.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Papa John's stock, with an average target price of $52.33 and a mix of ratings including five "Buy" and six "Hold."
• Papa John's reported a quarterly EPS of $0.41, exceeding expectations and achieving 4.2% year-over-year revenue growth, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share.

Boothbay Fund Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA - Free Report) by 9.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 489,949 shares of the company's stock after selling 50,745 shares during the period. Papa John's International accounts for 0.5% of Boothbay Fund Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Boothbay Fund Management LLC owned 1.50% of Papa John's International worth $20,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PZZA. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Papa John's International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,328,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Papa John's International in the first quarter valued at approximately $14,348,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC raised its position in shares of Papa John's International by 34.7% in the first quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 776,169 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,885,000 after buying an additional 199,840 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its position in shares of Papa John's International by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,358,945 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,812,000 after buying an additional 173,316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kodai Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Papa John's International in the first quarter valued at approximately $5,640,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PZZA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $42.00 price target (up from $38.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Papa John's International from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Papa John's International from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $52.00 price objective (up from $50.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price objective (up from $50.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $52.33.

Papa John's International Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ PZZA traded up $0.87 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $48.24. 752,901 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,041,731. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $45.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.26. The stock has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.35, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.15. Papa John's International, Inc. has a one year low of $30.16 and a one year high of $60.75.

Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $529.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $515.48 million. Papa John's International had a net margin of 3.58% and a negative return on equity of 14.42%. The company's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Papa John's International, Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Papa John's International Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Papa John's International's payout ratio is presently 81.42%.

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.