Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) Shares Sold by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp cut its position in Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA - Free Report) by 52.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,197 shares of the company's stock after selling 16,868 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Papa John's International were worth $624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PZZA. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Papa John's International by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 15,746 shares of the company's stock worth $647,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Papa John's International by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 18,906 shares of the company's stock valued at $776,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Papa John's International by 111.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,358 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 717 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Papa John's International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Papa John's International by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,543 shares of the company's stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 886 shares during the last quarter.

Papa John's International Price Performance

Shares of PZZA traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $49.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 994,904 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,258,900. The company's 50 day moving average is $40.67 and its 200 day moving average is $41.49. The stock has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of 21.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 1.18. Papa John's International, Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.16 and a 12-month high of $60.75.

Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. Papa John's International had a negative return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 3.77%. The company had revenue of $518.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $512.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.67 earnings per share. Papa John's International's quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Papa John's International, Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Papa John's International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. Papa John's International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Papa John's International in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Papa John's International from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Papa John's International from $45.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Papa John's International in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Northcoast Research raised shares of Papa John's International to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Papa John's International currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.25.

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.