Voya Investment Management LLC Sells 724 Shares of Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Voya Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,894 shares of the company’s stock after selling 724 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Papa Johns International were worth $406,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PZZA. Penn Capital Management Company LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Papa Johns International during the fourth quarter worth $1,785,000. Long Focus Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Papa Johns International in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,393,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Papa Johns International by 52.2% during the 4th quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 6,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 2,396 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 43.2% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 17,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 5,248 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Papa Johns International by 85.8% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 2,855 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PZZA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Benchmark reduced their price target on Papa Johns International from $65.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a research report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Papa Johns International from $45.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Papa Johns International from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Northcoast Research raised shares of Papa Johns International to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Papa Johns International presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.25.

Papa Johns International Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PZZA opened at $38.27 on Friday. Papa Johns International, Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.16 and a 52-week high of $60.75. The company has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of 13.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a fifty day moving average of $38.04 and a 200-day moving average of $42.67.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. Papa Johns International had a negative return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 4.51%. The business had revenue of $518.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $512.48 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Papa Johns International, Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Papa Johns International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.81%. Papa Johns International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.02%.

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.