Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) Stake Cut by Financial Advocates Investment Management

Financial Advocates Investment Management lessened its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 12.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,007 shares of the company’s stock after selling 869 shares during the quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Papa Johns International were worth $247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Irth Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Papa Johns International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,883,000. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Papa Johns International by 88.1% during the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,285,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,129,000 after buying an additional 1,070,485 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Papa Johns International during the 3rd quarter valued at $15,845,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Papa Johns International by 19.3% in the third quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,091,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,812,000 after acquiring an additional 176,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Papa Johns International during the third quarter worth $7,870,000.

Papa Johns International Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ PZZA opened at $38.05 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.19. Papa Johns International, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.28 and a 12-month high of $76.91. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.38.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $506.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $497.28 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. Papa Johns International’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Papa Johns International, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Papa Johns International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.84%. Papa Johns International’s payout ratio is 64.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on PZZA shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Papa Johns International from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Papa Johns International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of 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, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Papa Johns International from $56.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Papa Johns International presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.83.

Papa Johns International Profile

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.