Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its stake in Papa John's International by 18.0%, selling 201,067 shares, leaving it with approximately 916,171 shares worth $37.6 million.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share, representing an annualized yield of 4.6%, with the ex-dividend date on August 18th.
• Several analysts have given mixed ratings, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $51.58 for Papa John's International shares.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. cut its stake in Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA - Free Report) by 18.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 916,171 shares of the company's stock after selling 201,067 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned about 2.80% of Papa John's International worth $37,636,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Papa John's International in the 4th quarter valued at about $17,328,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Papa John's International in the first quarter valued at approximately $14,348,000. Boothbay Fund Management LLC grew its stake 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 worth $22,206,000 after purchasing an additional 300,138 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its stake 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 worth $31,885,000 after purchasing an additional 199,840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Long Focus Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Papa John's International during the 4th quarter worth $7,393,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital dropped 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 report on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $42.00 price objective (up from $38.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a research note on Monday. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Papa John's International in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Papa John's International from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Papa John's International from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Papa John's International presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $51.75.

Papa John's International Stock Performance

PZZA traded down $0.68 during trading on Friday, hitting $43.32. The stock had a trading volume of 861,112 shares, compared to its average volume of 927,764. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.55. 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 capitalization of $1.42 billion, a PE ratio of 19.17, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 1.13.

Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. Papa John's International had a negative return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 3.58%. The firm had revenue of $529.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $515.48 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Papa John's International, Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Papa John's International Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Papa John's International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.30%.

Papa John's 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.