Jefferies Financial Group Cuts Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Price Target to $42.00

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) had its price target decreased by Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $42.00 in a research report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on PZZA. UBS Group reduced their target price on Papa Johns International from $56.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Papa Johns International in a research report on Monday, January 13th. KeyCorp cut shares of Papa Johns International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Papa Johns International from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a research report on Wednesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Papa Johns International currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.33.

Papa Johns International Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PZZA opened at $36.01 on Wednesday. Papa Johns International has a one year low of $35.28 and a one year high of $78.67. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.77. The company has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.55, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.19.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Papa Johns International had a net margin of 4.51% and a negative return on equity of 19.61%. The firm had revenue of $506.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $497.28 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Papa Johns International will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Papa Johns International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.11%. Papa Johns International’s payout ratio is currently 64.11%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PZZA. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Papa Johns International by 66.9% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Papa Johns International in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Papa Johns International by 225.4% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 922 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Papa Johns International by 27.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Papa Johns International in the third quarter valued at approximately $156,000.

About Papa Johns 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.