Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Buys 78,145 Shares of Papa John's International, Inc. $PZZA

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA - Free Report) by 435.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 96,097 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 78,145 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.29% of Papa John's International worth $3,948,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PZZA. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Papa John's International by 214.7% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the company's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 947 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Papa John's International by 27.2% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,610 shares of the company's stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Papa John's International in the 4th quarter worth approximately $87,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Papa John's International by 506.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,122 shares of the company's stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 1,772 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Papa John's International by 2,758.7% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,144 shares of the company's stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 2,069 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on PZZA shares. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $42.00 target price (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 target price (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Papa John's International from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Papa John's International from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Papa John's International from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $52.33.

Papa John's International Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of PZZA stock traded down $0.92 on Monday, hitting $46.65. 365,764 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,325,875. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50-day moving average of $46.53 and a 200 day moving average of $42.86. Papa John's International, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.16 and a fifty-two week high of $60.75.

Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $515.48 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. Papa John's International's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Papa John's International, Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Papa John's International Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Papa John's International's dividend payout ratio is presently 81.42%.

Papa John's International Company Profile

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.