Venture Visionary Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Papa John's International, Inc. $PZZA

Key Points

• Venture Visionary Partners LLC has made a significant investment in Papa John's International, acquiring 80,971 shares valued at approximately $3.33 million, representing 0.25% ownership of the company.
• The company reported earnings of $0.41 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.34 and witnessing a 4.2% year-over-year revenue increase to $529.17 million.
• Papa John's International has recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share, which translates to an annualized dividend of $1.84 and a yield of 4.0% for shareholders.

Venture Visionary Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 80,971 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,326,000. Venture Visionary Partners LLC owned approximately 0.25% of Papa John's International at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Papa John's International by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,589,991 shares of the company's stock worth $106,371,000 after buying an additional 27,912 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its holdings in Papa John's International by 14.6% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in Papa John's International by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,117,238 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,885,000 after buying an additional 85,236 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 199,840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Papa John's International by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 591,937 shares of the company's stock worth $24,310,000 after purchasing an additional 15,513 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Loop Capital lowered their target price 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Papa John's International from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $42.00 price objective (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Papa John's International from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $52.00 price objective (up from $50.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a report on Friday, August 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $52.33.

Papa John's International Price Performance

Shares of Papa John's International stock traded up $1.97 during trading on Friday, hitting $46.29. 1,280,970 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 932,789. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $46.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.02. Papa John's International, Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.16 and a twelve month high of $60.75. The company has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a PE ratio of 20.48, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13.

Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. Papa John's International had a net margin of 3.58% and a negative return on equity of 14.42%. The firm had revenue of $529.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $515.48 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Papa John's International's payout ratio is currently 81.42%.

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.