Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Papa John's International, Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from thirteen analysts, with seven analysts recommending hold and six recommending buy.
• The company's current stock price is $42.41, having a twelve-month high of $60.75 and a low of $30.16.
• In its latest quarterly earnings, Papa John's reported an EPS of $0.36, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.33, with a net margin of 3.77% and revenue increase of 0.9% year-over-year.

Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $51.5833.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Papa John's International from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Loop Capital dropped their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Papa John's International from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Papa John's International in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Papa John's International in a research report on Thursday, June 12th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Papa John's International

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Papa John's International by 4,646.7% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 712 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 697 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Papa John's International in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Papa John's International by 937.8% in the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 851 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Papa John's International by 181.8% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 947 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investors Research Corp purchased a new position in shares of Papa John's International in the 2nd quarter valued at about $49,000.

Papa John's International Price Performance

Shares of PZZA traded down $1.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $39.97. 402,437 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,335,892. The stock has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.13. The stock's 50-day moving average is $46.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.45. Papa John's International has a 12 month low of $30.16 and a 12 month high of $60.75.

Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. Papa John's International had a negative return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 3.77%. The company had revenue of $518.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $512.48 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. Papa John's International's revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Papa John's International will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Papa John's International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Papa John's International's dividend payout ratio is presently 78.30%.

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.