Fortis Group Advisors LLC Purchases New Holdings in Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Fortis Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 8,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $338,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 603,650 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Papa John's International in the 4th quarter valued at $17,328,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its position in Papa John's International by 131.4% in the 4th quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 576,329 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,670,000 after buying an additional 327,300 shares during the period. Boothbay Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in Papa John's International by 124.8% in the fourth quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 540,694 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,206,000 after acquiring an additional 300,138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Long Focus Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Papa John's International during the fourth quarter worth approximately $7,393,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PZZA. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Papa John's International in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Papa John's International from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Papa John's International in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Papa John's International from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Papa John's International from $45.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.25.

Papa John's International Stock Down 0.7%

NASDAQ PZZA traded down $0.32 on Monday, reaching $44.74. The company had a trading volume of 998,580 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,241,122. Papa John's International, Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.16 and a 12 month high of $60.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of 22.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 1.19. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $46.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.11.

Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Papa John's International, Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Papa John's International Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors 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 4.11%. Papa John's International's dividend payout ratio is presently 78.30%.

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.