Stephens Reiterates Overweight Rating for Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating restated by equities researchers at Stephens in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $60.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 33.75% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Papa Johns International from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Benchmark lowered their price objective on shares of Papa Johns International from $87.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Papa Johns International from $78.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Papa Johns International from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Papa Johns International from $77.00 to $58.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Papa Johns International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.82.

Papa Johns International Trading Up 3.8 %

NASDAQ:PZZA traded up $1.63 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $44.86. 1,476,925 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,267,342. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.87. Papa Johns International has a fifty-two week low of $39.90 and a fifty-two week high of $83.51. The company has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a PE ratio of 19.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.16.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.10. Papa Johns International had a net margin of 3.50% and a negative return on equity of 19.46%. The firm had revenue of $507.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $520.13 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. Papa Johns International’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Papa Johns International will post 2.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ravi Thanawala acquired 1,900 shares of Papa Johns International stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $52.41 per share, for a total transaction of $99,579.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 38,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,039,797.20. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Papa Johns International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PZZA. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in shares of Papa Johns International in the fourth quarter valued at about $114,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Papa Johns International during the fourth quarter worth about $1,250,000. VELA Investment Management LLC raised its position in Papa Johns International by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 23,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 2,111 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Papa Johns International by 42.6% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 1,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dupree Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Papa Johns International during the fourth quarter worth about $323,000.

About Papa Johns 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.