Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Earns Overweight Rating from Stephens

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating restated by research analysts at Stephens in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $40.00 target price on the stock. Stephens’ price target indicates a potential upside of 8.78% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also commented on PZZA. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Papa John’s International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Papa John’s International from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Papa John’s International from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Papa John’s International from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Benchmark cut their target price on Papa John’s International from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Papa John’s International presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.50.

Papa John’s International Price Performance

PZZA opened at $36.77 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a PE ratio of 44.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.15. Papa John’s International has a fifty-two week low of $29.55 and a fifty-two week high of $55.74. The business has a 50-day moving average of $34.29 and a 200-day moving average of $35.22.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.08). Papa John’s International had a net margin of 1.37% and a negative return on equity of 10.71%. The firm had revenue of $478.61 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $485.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.36 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Papa John’s International will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Papa John’s International

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Papa John’s International by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,947,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,950,000 after acquiring an additional 318,816 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Papa John’s International by 10.5% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,700,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,201,000 after purchasing an additional 161,906 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its position in Papa John’s International by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,657,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,816,000 after purchasing an additional 42,810 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Papa John’s International by 2.0% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,108,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,380,000 after purchasing an additional 21,742 shares during the period. Finally, Irenic Capital Management LP bought a new position in Papa John’s International during the third quarter worth about $51,699,000.

Papa John’s International Company Profile

Papa John’s International, Inc is a leading American pizza restaurant chain known for its focus on high-quality ingredients and consistent product offerings. Founded in 1984 by John Schnatter in Jeffersonville, Indiana, the company has grown to operate thousands of restaurants across the United States and in more than 40 international markets. Papa John’s restaurants are primarily franchised, supported by a network of corporate-owned outlets that together drive brand standards, operational guidance and marketing efforts.

The core menu at Papa John’s centers on a variety of hand-tossed and pan pizzas made with a signature stone-baked crust and topped with real cheese, vine-ripened tomato sauce and premium meats and vegetables.