Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Shares Gap Up to $75.70

Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $75.70, but opened at $78.10. Papa John’s International shares last traded at $78.21, with a volume of 72,545 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PZZA shares. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Papa John’s International in a report on Tuesday, June 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $77.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com started coverage on Papa John’s International in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. BTIG Research dropped their target price on shares of Papa John’s International from $100.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, August 4th. 58.com reaffirmed an “initiates” rating on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Wednesday, June 14th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Papa John’s International in a research report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.17.

Papa John’s International Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.39, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.89.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.59. The company had revenue of $514.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $530.10 million. Papa John’s International had a negative return on equity of 23.66% and a net margin of 3.46%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Papa John’s International, Inc. will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Papa John’s International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 25th. Investors of record on Monday, August 14th were given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 11th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. This is an increase from Papa John’s International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Papa John’s International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Papa John’s International during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Papa John’s International by 1,752.6% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 352 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new stake in Papa John’s International in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Papa John’s International in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Papa John’s International during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000.

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. It operates through four segments: Domestic Company-Owned Restaurants, North America Commissaries, North America Franchising, and International Operations.