Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $51.25.

PZZA has been the subject of several research reports. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Papa John's International in a report on Monday, May 12th. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Papa John's International in a report on Thursday, June 12th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Papa John's International from $45.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased 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 research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Papa John's International from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Papa John's International

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Papa John's International by 4.6% in the first quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,842 shares of the company's stock valued at $281,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Papa John's International by 27.2% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,610 shares of the company's stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Papa John's International by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 15,746 shares of the company's stock worth $647,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Papa John's International by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 18,906 shares of the company's stock worth $776,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares during the period. Finally, Guidance Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of Papa John's International by 5.7% during the first quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 12,974 shares of the company's stock worth $533,000 after acquiring an additional 694 shares during the period.

Papa John's International Trading Down 3.0%

Papa John's International stock traded down $1.45 during trading on Monday, hitting $47.55. The company had a trading volume of 1,606,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,258,952. Papa John's International has a 1-year low of $30.16 and a 1-year high of $60.75. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $44.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.70. The stock has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 1.19.

Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. Papa John's International had a net margin of 3.77% and a negative return on equity of 15.72%. The firm had revenue of $518.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $512.48 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Papa John's International will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Papa John's International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. Papa John's International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.