Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) Shares Bought by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 24,806.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 87,172 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 86,822 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Papa Johns International were worth $3,581,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PZZA. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 117.3% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,118,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,933,000 after buying an additional 603,650 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Papa Johns International in the 4th quarter worth $17,328,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 131.4% in the 4th quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 576,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,670,000 after acquiring an additional 327,300 shares during the last quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC raised its position in shares of Papa Johns International by 124.8% during the fourth quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 540,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,206,000 after purchasing an additional 300,138 shares during the period. Finally, Long Focus Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Papa Johns International during the fourth quarter valued at $7,393,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PZZA shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on Papa Johns International from $45.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Papa Johns International from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. 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 research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Northcoast Research raised shares of Papa Johns International to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.25.

Papa Johns International Trading Up 7.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:PZZA opened at $51.79 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.18. Papa Johns International, Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.16 and a 1 year high of $60.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.53.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $518.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $512.48 million. Papa Johns International had a negative return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 4.51%. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Papa Johns International, Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Papa Johns International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. Papa Johns International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.30%.

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.