Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Given Buy Rating at Benchmark

Key Points

• Benchmark raised the price target for Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA) from $50.00 to $60.00, indicating a potential upside of 38.50% from its previous closing price.
• Other analysts have mixed opinions, with six maintaining a "hold" rating and five giving a "buy" rating, while the consensus price target stands at $52.63.
• Papa John's reported earnings of $0.41 per share for the last quarter, beating estimates, and had a revenue of $529.17 million, an increase of 4.2% year-over-year.

Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by research analysts at Benchmark in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $60.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $50.00. Benchmark's price target would indicate a potential upside of 26.05% from the company's previous close.

PZZA has been the subject of several other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $46.00 price target (up previously from $40.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a research note on Monday. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $52.00 price target (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Papa John's International from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on 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. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $42.00 target price (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Papa John's International presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $51.89.

Papa John's International Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ PZZA traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $47.60. The company had a trading volume of 560,571 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,332,543. The company has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.13. Papa John's International has a 1 year low of $30.16 and a 1 year high of $60.75. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $46.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.69.

Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $529.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $515.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Papa John's International will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 697 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew 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 worth $34,000 after buying an additional 769 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew 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 worth $46,000 after buying an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. Investors Research Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Papa John's International in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Papa John's International by 7,600.0% in the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,001 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 988 shares during the last quarter.

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.