Papa Johns International’s (PZZA) Buy Rating Reiterated at Benchmark

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by Benchmark in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $50.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 22.71% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on PZZA. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Papa Johns International to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Papa Johns International from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. 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 report 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 report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Papa Johns International from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.25.

Papa Johns International Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PZZA traded up $2.48 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $40.75. 512,164 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,241,822. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.61. The company has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of 14.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.09. Papa Johns International has a 1-year low of $30.16 and a 1-year high of $60.75.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $518.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $512.48 million. Papa Johns International had a negative return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 4.51%. Papa Johns International’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Papa Johns International will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Papa Johns International

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Papa Johns International by 11.2% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,637,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Papa Johns International by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 399,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,423,000 after purchasing an additional 15,892 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC bought a new position in Papa Johns International in the 1st quarter worth $14,348,000. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Papa Johns International in the 1st quarter worth about $5,020,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Papa Johns International by 38.1% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 230,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,449,000 after purchasing an additional 63,416 shares during the period.

Papa Johns International Company 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.