Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Raises Stake in Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its stake in Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,156,705 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 64,972 shares during the quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC owned 3.54% of Papa Johns International worth $47,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PZZA. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Papa Johns International by 66.9% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in Papa Johns International by 27.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in Papa Johns International by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 600 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. boosted its position in Papa Johns International by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 10,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Papa Johns International by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the last quarter.

Papa Johns International Price Performance

PZZA opened at $38.05 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $41.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.30.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $506.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $497.28 million. Papa Johns International had a net margin of 4.51% and a negative return on equity of 19.61%. Papa Johns International’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Papa Johns International, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Papa Johns International Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PZZA has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp downgraded Papa Johns International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Papa Johns International from $56.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. 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 report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Papa Johns International from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.