Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Research Coverage Started at Stephens

Stock analysts at Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set an "overweight" rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Stephens' price objective suggests a potential upside of 21.40% from the company's current price.

PZZA has been the subject of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Papa John's International in a report on Thursday, January 4th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Papa John's International from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com cut Papa John's International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 9th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Papa John's International in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, BTIG Research cut Papa John's International from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Papa John's International presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $82.10.

Papa John's International Stock Performance

Papa John's International stock traded down $1.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $61.78. 906,299 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 799,093. Papa John's International has a twelve month low of $60.66 and a twelve month high of $86.38. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $69.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.70. The firm has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a PE ratio of 25.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.14.

Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.18. Papa John's International had a negative return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 3.84%. The company had revenue of $571.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $578.15 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Papa John's International will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of Papa John's International stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.21, for a total value of $202,626.06. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,804 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,320,228.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 8.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Papa John's International

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in shares of Papa John's International by 22.5% during the first quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 8,086 shares of the company's stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 1,483 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Papa John's International by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,603,639 shares of the company's stock worth $274,705,000 after acquiring an additional 123,995 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Papa John's International by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,698,833 shares of the company's stock worth $129,502,000 after acquiring an additional 192,149 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its holdings in Papa John's International by 30.3% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 51,750 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,945,000 after buying an additional 12,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd increased its holdings in Papa John's International by 43.3% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,050,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,042,000 after buying an additional 317,500 shares during the last quarter.

About Papa John's International

Papa John's International, Inc operates and franchises pizza delivery and carryout restaurants under the Papa John's trademark in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Domestic Company-Owned Restaurants, North America Commissaries, North America Franchising, and International Operations.