Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, 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 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $55.83.

PZZA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp downgraded Papa Johns International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Papa Johns International from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Papa Johns International from $73.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Papa Johns International in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Papa Johns International from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Papa Johns International Stock Up 18.4 %

Papa Johns International stock opened at $51.28 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.35. The company has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.19. Papa Johns International has a 52-week low of $35.28 and a 52-week high of $76.91.

Papa Johns International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. Papa Johns International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.11%.

Institutional Trading of Papa Johns International

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PZZA. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 600 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Papa Johns International during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Papa Johns International by 66.9% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Papa Johns International during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Papa Johns International by 111.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the last quarter.

About Papa Johns 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.