Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) Shares Acquired by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 97.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,479 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,128 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Papa Johns International were worth $780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PZZA. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Papa Johns International by 47.3% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 90,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,234,000 after buying an additional 28,957 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Papa Johns International by 21.6% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 39,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 6,954 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in Papa Johns International by 2.5% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 16,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $780,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC grew its position in Papa Johns International by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 130,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,111,000 after purchasing an additional 1,691 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Papa Johns International by 36.0% during the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 102,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,803,000 after purchasing an additional 27,059 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PZZA shares. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Papa Johns International in a report on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Papa Johns International from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. KeyCorp cut shares of Papa Johns International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Papa Johns International from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Eight investment 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 a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.82.

Papa Johns International Trading Down 3.7 %

PZZA stock opened at $40.42 on Thursday. Papa Johns International, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.90 and a 12-month high of $78.67. The business’s 50-day moving average is $50.52 and its 200 day moving average is $48.07. The stock has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.08, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.16.

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

Papa Johns International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Papa Johns International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.11%.

About Papa Johns 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.