Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Purchases 78,145 Shares of Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

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

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Papa John's International by 117.4% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 49,084 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,040,000 after purchasing an additional 26,505 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Papa John's International during the first quarter valued at $230,000. Templeton & Phillips Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Papa John's International by 119.6% during the first quarter. Templeton & Phillips Capital Management LLC now owns 92,276 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,791,000 after purchasing an additional 50,260 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Papa John's International by 12.2% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 166,128 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,825,000 after purchasing an additional 18,099 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Papa John's International during the first quarter valued at $509,000.

Papa John's International Stock Performance

PZZA stock opened at $47.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.04, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.69. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $529.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Papa John's International, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Papa John's International Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PZZA shares. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 target price (up from $50.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a research note on Monday. Loop Capital lowered 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 note on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $42.00 price objective (up from $38.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $52.00 price objective (up from $50.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Papa John's International from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $51.89.

Papa John's International 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.

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