Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Reaches New 12-Month Low at $60.24

Shares of Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $60.24 and last traded at $60.65, with a volume of 30858 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $60.95.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $87.00 price target on shares of Papa John’s International in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Stephens assumed coverage on Papa John’s International in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Papa John’s International from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “sell” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Papa John’s International in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Papa John’s International from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.10.

Papa John’s International Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of 25.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a fifty day moving average of $68.38 and a 200 day moving average of $69.47.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $571.32 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $578.15 million. Papa John’s International had a negative return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 3.84%. Papa John’s International’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Papa John’s International, Inc. will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Papa John’s International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. Papa John’s International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Papa John’s International news, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.21, for a total transaction of $202,626.06. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,320,228.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 8.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Papa John’s International

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Papa John’s International by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its position in Papa John’s International by 22.5% in the 1st quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 8,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $539,000 after acquiring an additional 1,483 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Papa John’s International by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,603,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,705,000 after acquiring an additional 123,995 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Papa John’s International by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,698,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,502,000 after acquiring an additional 192,149 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its position in Papa John’s International by 30.3% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 51,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,945,000 after acquiring an additional 12,037 shares during the period.

About Papa John’s International

Papa John's International, Inc operates and franchises pizza delivery and carryout restaurants under the Papa John's trademark in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Domestic Company-Owned Restaurants, North America Commissaries, North America Franchising, and International Operations.