Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Reaches New 1-Year Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) reached a new 52-week low on Thursday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $55.00 to $42.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the stock. Papa Johns International traded as low as $35.92 and last traded at $35.94, with a volume of 93123 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $36.85.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on PZZA. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Papa Johns International in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Papa Johns International from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Papa Johns International from $56.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. KeyCorp cut shares of Papa Johns International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a research note on Monday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Papa Johns International

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Irth Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Papa Johns International in the fourth quarter worth about $66,883,000. Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings 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 worth $930,000 after purchasing an additional 13,297 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Papa Johns International by 85.9% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 190,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,237,000 after purchasing an additional 87,801 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Papa Johns International by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,091,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,812,000 after buying an additional 176,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Papa Johns International by 4.3% during the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 985,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,280,000 after buying an additional 40,996 shares during the last quarter.

Papa Johns International Stock Down 3.0 %

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $45.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.19.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $506.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $497.28 million. Papa Johns International had a net margin of 4.51% and a negative return on equity of 19.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Papa Johns International, Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Papa Johns International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Papa Johns International’s payout ratio is presently 64.11%.

Papa Johns International Company Profile

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.