Stephens Reiterates “Overweight” Rating for Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reissued by Stephens in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $60.00 price target on the stock. Stephens’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 29.76% from the stock’s previous close.

PZZA has been the subject of several other research reports. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Papa Johns International from $73.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. KeyCorp downgraded Papa Johns International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target 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. UBS Group cut their price objective on Papa Johns International from $56.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Eight equities 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 has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.67.

Papa Johns International Trading Down 7.2 %

NASDAQ PZZA opened at $46.24 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.76. The company has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.11, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.19. Papa Johns International has a 12-month low of $35.28 and a 12-month high of $76.91.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.11. Papa Johns International had a negative return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 4.51%. Sell-side analysts predict that Papa Johns International will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PZZA. Irth Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Papa Johns International in the fourth quarter worth $66,883,000. Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its stake in Papa Johns International by 142.3% in the 4th quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 22,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $930,000 after purchasing an additional 13,297 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Papa Johns International by 85.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 190,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,237,000 after purchasing an additional 87,801 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Papa Johns International by 19.3% during the third quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,091,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,812,000 after purchasing an additional 176,470 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Papa Johns International by 8.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 378,676 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,399,000 after purchasing an additional 28,883 shares during the period.

About Papa Johns International

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.