Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Hits New 12-Month Low at $45.27

Shares of Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) reached a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $45.27 and last traded at $45.39, with a volume of 1287950 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $46.98.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PZZA. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Papa John’s International from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Papa John’s International from $78.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Papa John’s International from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Papa John’s International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 9th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Papa John’s International in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.80.

Papa John’s International Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $51.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.34. The company has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.16.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.09. Papa John’s International had a net margin of 3.50% and a negative return on equity of 19.46%. The firm had revenue of $513.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $544.46 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Papa John’s International, Inc. will post 2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Papa John’s International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. Papa John’s International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.78%.

Insider Activity at Papa John’s International

In other Papa John’s International news, CEO Ravi Thanawala purchased 1,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $52.41 per share, with a total value of $99,579.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 38,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,039,797.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Papa John’s International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PZZA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Papa John’s International by 4.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,769,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,074,000 after acquiring an additional 166,246 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in Papa John’s International by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,724,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,850,000 after purchasing an additional 93,325 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 192,149 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in Papa John’s International by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 944,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,878,000 after purchasing an additional 21,198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 4.8% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 932,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,124,000 after buying an additional 42,867 shares in the last quarter.

Papa John’s International Company Profile

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.