Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Increases Stock Position in Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 121.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 46,316 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 25,423 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Papa Johns International were worth $2,495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PZZA. 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Papa Johns International in the second quarter valued at approximately $93,586,000. Cowen AND Company LLC acquired a new position in shares of Papa Johns International in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,736,000. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Papa Johns International by 25.9% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,170,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,991,000 after buying an additional 446,477 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Papa Johns International by 30.2% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,214,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,042,000 after buying an additional 281,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its position in shares of Papa Johns International by 55.9% in the second quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 516,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,244,000 after buying an additional 185,036 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Papa Johns International from $61.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Papa Johns International from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Papa Johns International from $58.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.00.

Papa Johns International Stock Up 5.5 %

PZZA opened at $55.26 on Friday. Papa Johns International, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.90 and a 52-week high of $78.67. The company has a 50 day moving average of $50.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.51. The company has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.20.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $507.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $520.13 million. Papa Johns International had a net margin of 3.25% and a negative return on equity of 19.85%. Papa Johns International’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Papa Johns International, Inc. will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Papa Johns International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Papa Johns International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.46%.

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.