Bessemer Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 2,758.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,144 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,069 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Papa John’s International were worth $88,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PZZA. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Papa John’s 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. purchased a new stake in shares of Papa John’s International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,328,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its stake in shares of Papa John’s International by 131.4% in the fourth quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 576,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,670,000 after buying an additional 327,300 shares in the last quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Papa John’s International by 124.8% in the fourth quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 540,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,206,000 after buying an additional 300,138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Long Focus Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Papa John’s International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,393,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PZZA shares. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Papa John’s International in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Papa John’s International from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Papa John’s International from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Papa John’s International from $45.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.25.

Papa John’s International Stock Down 2.2%

NASDAQ PZZA opened at $48.80 on Friday. Papa John’s International, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.16 and a fifty-two week high of $60.75. The stock has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a fifty day moving average of $43.81 and a 200-day moving average of $41.63.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. Papa John’s International had a negative return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 3.77%. The company had revenue of $518.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $512.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Papa John’s International, Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Papa John’s International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.77%. Papa John’s International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.30%.

Papa John’s 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.