Papa John's International, Inc. $PZZA Shares Sold by Earnest Partners LLC

Key Points

• Earnest Partners LLC reduced its stake in Papa John's International by 40.6%, now holding approximately 1.54 million shares valued at $63.22 million.
• Analysts have diverse opinions on Papa John's stock, with a consensus average rating of "Hold" and target prices ranging from $42.00 to $60.00.
• Papa John's announced a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share, scheduled for payment on August 29th, representing a 3.8% dividend yield.

Earnest Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA - Free Report) by 40.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,538,853 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,051,138 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC owned approximately 4.70% of Papa John's International worth $63,216,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PZZA. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in shares of Papa John's International by 4,646.7% in the first 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 period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Papa John's International by 937.8% in the first 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 period. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Papa John's International by 214.7% in the first 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 period. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Papa John's International by 27.2% in the first 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 period. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Papa John's International in the fourth quarter valued at $87,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PZZA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $42.00 target price (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price 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. Loop Capital lowered their target price 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. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $52.00 target price (up from $50.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, 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, August 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $52.33.

Papa John's International Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of PZZA traded up $1.04 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $48.71. 832,633 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,160,777. Papa John's International, Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.16 and a 52 week high of $60.75. The company's 50 day moving average is $45.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.27. The company has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.55, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.15.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $529.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.61 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend 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%.

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.