nVerses Capital LLC Takes $156,000 Position in Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PZZA. Seven Eight Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 396.0% during the first quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 16,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 13,246 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its position in Papa Johns International by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 28,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,877,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Papa Johns International by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,769,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,074,000 after acquiring an additional 166,246 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Papa Johns International by 4.3% during the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 985,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,280,000 after acquiring an additional 40,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Papa Johns International during the first quarter worth $1,142,000.

Papa Johns International Stock Performance

Shares of Papa Johns International stock opened at $54.56 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a PE ratio of 26.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.20. Papa Johns International, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.90 and a 52 week high of $78.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $49.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.14.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.08. Papa Johns International had a net margin of 3.25% and a negative return on equity of 19.85%. The business had revenue of $507.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $520.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. Papa Johns International’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Papa Johns International, Inc. will post 2.27 EPS for the current year.

Papa Johns International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. Papa Johns International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PZZA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America cut their target price on Papa Johns International from $78.00 to $69.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Papa Johns International from $58.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Papa Johns International from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Papa Johns International in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Papa Johns International from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.82.

Papa Johns International Company Profile

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.