Fifth Third Bancorp Reduces Stock Position in Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Fifth Third Bancorp reduced its stake in shares of Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA - Free Report) by 52.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm 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 quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PZZA. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Papa John's International by 117.3% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,118,403 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,933,000 after buying an additional 603,650 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Papa John's International during the 4th quarter worth $17,328,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC raised its position in Papa John's International by 131.4% during the 4th quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 576,329 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,670,000 after purchasing an additional 327,300 shares in the last quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Papa John's International by 124.8% in the 4th quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 540,694 shares of the company's stock worth $22,206,000 after buying an additional 300,138 shares during the period. Finally, Long Focus Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Papa John's International during the 4th quarter worth $7,393,000.

Papa John's International Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ PZZA traded down $0.12 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $48.98. The company had a trading volume of 1,457,112 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,257,087. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.48. 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, May 8th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $518.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $512.48 million. Papa John's International had a negative return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 3.77%. Papa John's International's quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.67 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Papa John's International, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Papa John's International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. Papa John's International's payout ratio is 78.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on PZZA shares. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Papa John's International in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Loop Capital reduced 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. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Papa John's International from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Papa John's International from $45.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Papa John's International in a report on Friday, February 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.