Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Reaches New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $56.00 to $45.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Papa Johns International traded as low as $37.70 and last traded at $38.45, with a volume of 220009 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.94.

PZZA has been the subject of several other research reports. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Papa Johns International in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America raised their price target on Papa Johns International from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded Papa Johns International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.82.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Papa Johns International by 1.4% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 103,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,873,000 after buying an additional 1,410 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Papa Johns International by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Papa Johns International by 211.2% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 12,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $570,000 after purchasing an additional 8,238 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Papa Johns International by 18.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in Papa Johns International by 242.4% during the second quarter. Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. now owns 138,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,503,000 after buying an additional 98,005 shares during the period.

Papa Johns International Trading Down 3.2 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $47.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.32. The stock has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.47, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Papa Johns International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.76%. Papa Johns International’s payout ratio is presently 64.11%.

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.