Bank of America Reiterates Neutral Rating for Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reissued by Bank of America in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $50.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $62.00. Bank of America‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 12.26% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Monday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Papa John’s International from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Papa John’s International from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $42.00 target price (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Monday, August 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.00.

Papa John’s International Trading Down 4.4%

Shares of NASDAQ PZZA opened at $44.54 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $46.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.47. Papa John’s International has a 1-year low of $30.16 and a 1-year high of $60.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.10.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. Papa John’s International had a net margin of 3.58% and a negative return on equity of 14.42%. The firm had revenue of $529.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $515.48 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Papa John’s International will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Papa John’s International

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Papa John’s International by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,700,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,201,000 after acquiring an additional 161,906 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its position in shares of Papa John’s International by 18.9% during the 2nd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 922,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,162,000 after acquiring an additional 146,640 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Papa John’s International by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 805,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,426,000 after acquiring an additional 5,071 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its position in shares of Papa John’s International by 271.6% during the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 690,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,783,000 after acquiring an additional 504,514 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Papa John’s International by 31.3% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 428,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,622,000 after acquiring an additional 102,137 shares during the period.

About Papa John’s International

Papa John’s International, Inc engages in the operation and franchise of pizza delivery and carryout restaurants. It operates through the following segments: Domestic Company-owned Restaurants, North America Franchising, North America Commissaries, International Operations, and All Others. The Domestic Company-Owned Restaurants segment consists of retail sales of pizza and side items, breadsticks, cheese sticks, chicken poppers and wings, dessert items, and canned and bottled beverages.