Stephens Reiterates “Overweight” Rating for Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by Stephens in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $60.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 29.76% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Papa Johns International from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Papa Johns International from $73.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Papa Johns International from $56.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Papa Johns International in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of Papa Johns International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Papa Johns International has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.67.

Papa Johns International Stock Down 7.2 %

Shares of PZZA opened at $46.24 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $41.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.19. Papa Johns International has a 12-month low of $35.28 and a 12-month high of $76.91.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.11. Papa Johns International had a net margin of 4.51% and a negative return on equity of 19.61%. Equities research analysts expect that Papa Johns International will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PZZA. Irth Capital Management LP bought a new position in Papa Johns International in the fourth quarter valued at about $66,883,000. Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in Papa Johns International by 142.3% in the 4th quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 22,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $930,000 after purchasing an additional 13,297 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Papa Johns International by 85.9% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 190,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,237,000 after buying an additional 87,801 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 19.3% during the third quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,091,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,812,000 after buying an additional 176,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Papa Johns International by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 378,676 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,399,000 after acquiring an additional 28,883 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.