Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Price Target Lowered to $26.00 at Piper Sandler

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) had its price target decreased by stock analysts at Piper Sandler from $30.00 to $26.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 7.71% from the company’s current price.

PZZA has been the subject of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Papa John’s International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 26th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price target (down from $42.00) on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Monday, July 13th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective (down from $38.00) on shares of Papa John’s International in a research report on Friday. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Papa John’s International from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Papa John’s International from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $33.88.

Papa John’s International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PZZA traded down $0.50 during trading on Friday, hitting $24.14. 1,861,425 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,216,339. The company has a market cap of $794.17 million, a PE ratio of 29.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $33.05 and a 200 day moving average of $33.88. Papa John’s International has a 52-week low of $23.84 and a 52-week high of $55.74.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $482.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $481.25 million. Papa John’s International had a negative return on equity of 10.71% and a net margin of 1.37%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Papa John’s International will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Papa John’s International

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Papa John’s International in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $13,942,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Papa John’s International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,969,000. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Papa John’s International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,767,000. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Papa John’s International by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,947,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,950,000 after purchasing an additional 318,816 shares during the period. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Papa John’s International in the second quarter worth approximately $10,138,000.

Key Papa John’s International News

Here are the key news stories impacting Papa John’s International this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Papa John’s reported second-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.46 per share and revenue of $482.4 million, modestly exceeding analysts’ estimates. Earnings also increased from $0.41 per share in the year-ago quarter. Papa John’s Q2 earnings and revenues beat estimates
• Positive Sentiment: The company announced leadership appointments intended to support its ongoing transformation strategy, which could help improve execution over time. Papa John’s announces leadership appointments
• Neutral Sentiment: Papa John’s expanded the chief legal officer’s responsibilities to include strategy, signaling an effort to strengthen its turnaround plan as competition intensifies. Papa John’s strategy role for legal chief
• Negative Sentiment: Management forecast a 2% to 4% decline in 2026 global system-wide sales, reduced its outlook and suspended the dividend. The company is targeting $180 million to $190 million in adjusted EBITDA, but the weaker sales forecast and ongoing U.S. struggles point to a slower-than-expected turnaround. Papa John’s forecasts sales decline and suspends dividend
• Negative Sentiment: Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating but cut its price target to $24 from $38, indicating substantially reduced expectations for the stock. Stephens price target update
• Negative Sentiment: Unusually heavy put-option activity and a securities-fraud investigation announcement may further weigh on sentiment, although neither necessarily establishes wrongdoing by Papa John’s or its executives. PZZA securities-fraud investigation

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.