Papa John's International's (PZZA) Neutral Rating Reiterated at Bank of America

Key Points

• Bank of America has reiterated a "neutral" rating for Papa John's International (PZZA) with a new price objective of $50.00, down from $62.00, suggesting a potential upside of 5.62% from the current price.
• Analysts are divided on the stock, with four giving a buy rating and eight issuing a hold rating, resulting in a consensus target price of $50.00.
• Papa John's reported $0.41 EPS in the last quarter, exceeding expectations and marking a 4.2% year-over-year revenue increase to $529.17 million.

Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "neutral" rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Bank of America in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $50.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $62.00. Bank of America's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 5.62% from the stock's current price.

PZZA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $52.00 price target (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a report on Friday, August 8th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $42.00 price objective (up from $38.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a report on Monday, August 4th. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Papa John's International in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Papa John's International from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Papa John's International in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Papa John's International currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $50.00.

Papa John's International Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ PZZA opened at $47.34 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a PE ratio of 20.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.10. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $46.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.45. Papa John's International has a 1-year low of $30.16 and a 1-year high of $60.75.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Papa John's International

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Papa John's International by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,700,062 shares of the company's stock worth $83,201,000 after buying an additional 161,906 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC raised its position in Papa John's International by 18.9% during the 2nd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 922,809 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,162,000 after purchasing an additional 146,640 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Papa John's International by 0.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 805,492 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,426,000 after acquiring an additional 5,071 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its holdings in Papa John's International by 271.6% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 690,299 shares of the company's stock worth $33,783,000 after buying an additional 504,514 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Papa John's International by 31.3% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 428,961 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,622,000 after buying an additional 102,137 shares in 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.

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