Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Upgraded to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has $60.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $65.00.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Papa John’s International from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Saturday, March 9th. Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating and set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Friday, March 1st. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Papa John’s International from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. BTIG Research downgraded Papa John’s International from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a market perform rating on shares of Papa John’s International in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $81.60.

Papa John’s International Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Papa John’s International stock opened at $63.22 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $68.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.52. Papa John’s International has a 1-year low of $60.24 and a 1-year high of $86.38. The company has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.70, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.14.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.18. Papa John’s International had a negative return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 3.84%. The business had revenue of $571.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $578.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Papa John’s International will post 2.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Papa John’s International Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Papa John’s International’s payout ratio is 74.80%.

Insider Activity at Papa John’s International

In other Papa John’s International news, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of Papa John’s International stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.21, for a total transaction of $202,626.06. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,320,228.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Papa John’s International by 1,549.9% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 38,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,628,000 after buying an additional 36,191 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in Papa John’s International by 452.8% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 20,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,390,000 after acquiring an additional 16,695 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Papa John’s International in the third quarter worth $263,000. Peregrine Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Papa John’s International by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 137,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,354,000 after purchasing an additional 4,590 shares during the period. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Papa John’s International during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,219,000.

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.