Papa John's International, Inc. $PZZA Holdings Lifted by Invesco Ltd.

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Papa John's International by 8.6%, now owning approximately 147,685 shares valued at $6.07 million.
• In its most recent quarterly report, Papa John's exceeded earnings expectations with $0.41 EPS and reported $529.17 million in revenue, a 4.2% increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share, equating to an annualized dividend of $1.84 and a yield of 3.8%.

Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA - Free Report) by 8.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 147,685 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,727 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 0.45% of Papa John's International worth $6,067,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Papa John's International by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,358,945 shares of the company's stock worth $55,812,000 after purchasing an additional 173,316 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Papa John's International by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,117,238 shares of the company's stock worth $45,885,000 after acquiring an additional 85,236 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its position in Papa John's International by 34.7% in the first quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 776,169 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,885,000 after acquiring an additional 199,840 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Papa John's International by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 591,937 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,310,000 after purchasing an additional 15,513 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Papa John's International during the fourth quarter worth $17,328,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PZZA has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $42.00 target price (up from $38.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Papa John's International from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Benchmark restated 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. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $52.00 target price (up from $50.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price target on Papa John's International from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Papa John's International has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $52.33.

Papa John's International Stock Up 2.2%

NASDAQ PZZA traded up $1.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $48.71. The company had a trading volume of 832,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,150,342. Papa John's International, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.16 and a fifty-two week high of $60.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.33. The firm has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.13.

Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 EPS 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 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. Equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Papa John's International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.