Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) has earned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the ten ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $36.50.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price target (down from $42.00) on shares of Papa John’s International in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Papa John’s International from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Papa John’s International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Papa John’s International from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Benchmark dropped their price target on shares of Papa John’s International from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 8th.

Papa John’s International Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of Papa John’s International stock opened at $32.24 on Friday. Papa John’s International has a twelve month low of $29.55 and a twelve month high of $55.74. The stock has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s fifty day moving average is $33.81 and its 200 day moving average is $34.56.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $478.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $485.51 million. Papa John’s International had a negative return on equity of 10.71% and a net margin of 1.37%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Papa John’s International will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Papa John’s International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Papa John’s International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 221.69%.

Institutional Trading of Papa John’s International

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Papa John’s International by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,947,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,950,000 after acquiring an additional 318,816 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Papa John’s International by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,700,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,201,000 after purchasing an additional 161,906 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its position in shares of Papa John’s International by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,657,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,816,000 after purchasing an additional 42,810 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Papa John’s International by 2.0% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,108,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,380,000 after purchasing an additional 21,742 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Papa John’s International by 3.1% during the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 874,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,104,000 after purchasing an additional 26,190 shares during the period.

About Papa John’s International

Papa John’s International, Inc is a leading American pizza restaurant chain known for its focus on high-quality ingredients and consistent product offerings. Founded in 1984 by John Schnatter in Jeffersonville, Indiana, the company has grown to operate thousands of restaurants across the United States and in more than 40 international markets. Papa John’s restaurants are primarily franchised, supported by a network of corporate-owned outlets that together drive brand standards, operational guidance and marketing efforts.

The core menu at Papa John’s centers on a variety of hand-tossed and pan pizzas made with a signature stone-baked crust and topped with real cheese, vine-ripened tomato sauce and premium meats and vegetables.