Dean Capital Management Has $2.55 Million Position in Papa John's International, Inc. $PZZA

Key Points

• Dean Capital Management increased its holdings in Papa John's International by 45.7%, acquiring an additional 19,488 shares, bringing its total to 62,151 shares valued at approximately $2.55 million.
• Wall Street analysts have raised their price targets for Papa John's stock, with a consensus target of $52.33 and ratings that include five "buy" and six "hold" assessments.
• Papa John's reported $529.17 million in revenue for the last quarter, surpassing estimates and showing a year-over-year growth of 4.2%, alongside an earnings per share of $0.41.

Dean Capital Management raised its holdings in Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA - Free Report) by 45.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,151 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 19,488 shares during the quarter. Papa John's International accounts for about 1.1% of Dean Capital Management's portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Dean Capital Management owned 0.19% of Papa John's International worth $2,553,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PZZA. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in Papa John's International by 4,646.7% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 712 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 697 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Papa John's International by 937.8% in the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 851 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 769 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Papa John's International by 214.7% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 947 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Papa John's International by 27.2% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,610 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in Papa John's International during the fourth quarter valued at about $87,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on PZZA shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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 note on Friday, August 15th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $42.00 price objective (up from $38.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped 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 note on Monday, August 11th. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set 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, Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price objective (up from $50.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Papa John's International has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $52.33.

Papa John's International Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of PZZA traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $50.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 619,234 shares, compared to its average volume of 993,754. The firm has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.15. Papa John's International, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.16 and a 1-year high of $60.75. The company has a 50 day moving average of $45.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.29.

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

Papa John's International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Papa John's International's dividend payout ratio is currently 81.42%.

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.