Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) Hits New 52-Week Low at $45.27

Shares of Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $45.27 and last traded at $45.39, with a volume of 1287950 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $46.98.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Papa John’s International from $78.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Benchmark dropped their price target on shares of Papa John’s International from $87.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Papa John’s International from $77.00 to $58.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 10th. Wedbush reduced their price target on Papa John’s International from $76.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded Papa John’s International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.80.

Papa John’s International Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $51.85 and its 200 day moving average is $64.34. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.88, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.16.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.09. Papa John’s International had a negative return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 3.50%. The firm had revenue of $513.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $544.46 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Papa John’s International, Inc. will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Papa John’s International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.04%. Papa John’s International’s payout ratio is 81.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Ravi Thanawala bought 1,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $52.41 per share, with a total value of $99,579.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 38,920 shares in the company, valued at $2,039,797.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 396.5% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Cutler Group LLC CA purchased a new stake in shares of Papa John’s International in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Papa John’s International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Papa John’s International by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in Papa John’s International during the fourth quarter worth $114,000.

About Papa John’s International

Papa John's International, Inc operates and franchises pizza delivery and carryout restaurants under the Papa John's trademark in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Domestic Company-Owned Restaurants, North America Commissaries, North America Franchising, and International Operations.