Stifel Nicolaus Upgrades Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) to Hold

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) was upgraded by research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $60.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $65.00. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective points to a potential downside of 6.63% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on PZZA. StockNews.com cut shares of Papa John’s International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 9th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Papa John’s International in a research note on Friday, March 1st. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Papa John’s International from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Papa John’s International in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Papa John’s International from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.60.

Papa John’s International Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Papa John’s International stock opened at $64.26 on Monday. Papa John’s International has a 12-month low of $60.24 and a 12-month high of $86.38. The stock has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a PE ratio of 26.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50-day moving average of $68.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.52.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.18. Papa John’s International had a net margin of 3.84% and a negative return on equity of 19.46%. The company had revenue of $571.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $578.15 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Papa John’s International will post 2.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Papa John’s International

In other Papa John’s International news, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of Papa John’s International stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.21, for a total value of $202,626.06. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,320,228.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Papa John’s International

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT lifted its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 3,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $191,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter.

Papa John’s 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.