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

Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock 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 Ratings Changes

PZZA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Papa John’s International from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. KeyCorp lowered their target price 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. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Papa John’s International in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Papa John’s International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 9th. Finally, Wedbush dropped their target price on Papa John’s International from $76.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Papa John’s International 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 market cap of $1.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.93.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $513.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $544.46 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Papa John’s International, Inc. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Papa John’s International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.08%. Papa John’s International’s payout ratio is currently 81.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Ravi Thanawala purchased 1,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $52.41 per share, for a total transaction 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 acquisition 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

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Papa John’s International by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,769,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,074,000 after purchasing an additional 166,246 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 5.7% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,724,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,850,000 after buying an additional 93,325 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,698,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,502,000 after buying an additional 192,149 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Papa John’s International by 2.3% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 944,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,878,000 after acquiring an additional 21,198 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Papa John’s International by 4.8% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 932,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,124,000 after acquiring an additional 42,867 shares in the last quarter.

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