GAMMA Investing LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA - Free Report) by 24,806.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 87,172 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 86,822 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC owned about 0.27% of Papa Johns International worth $3,581,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Papa Johns 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 last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Papa Johns International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,328,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its position in shares of Papa Johns International by 131.4% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC grew its position in shares of Papa Johns 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 purchasing an additional 300,138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Long Focus Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Papa Johns International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,393,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PZZA shares. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Papa Johns International in a research report on Thursday. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Papa Johns International from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Northcoast Research raised Papa Johns International to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Papa Johns International from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Papa Johns International has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $51.25.

Papa Johns International Stock Performance

Papa Johns International stock traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $50.42. 1,078,969 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,256,731. Papa Johns International, Inc. has a one year low of $30.16 and a one year high of $60.75. The stock has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $39.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.48.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $518.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $512.48 million. Papa Johns International had a net margin of 4.51% and a negative return on equity of 19.61%. The business's revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Papa Johns International, Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Papa Johns International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. Papa Johns International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.30%.

Papa Johns 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.