Papa John’s Int’l, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) Shares Bought by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Papa John’s Int’l, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) by 7.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,979 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,011 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Papa John’s Int’l were worth $2,187,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PZZA. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Papa John’s Int’l by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,423,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,199,000 after acquiring an additional 502,928 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its holdings in Papa John’s Int’l by 70.7% during the 4th quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 838,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,976,000 after buying an additional 347,476 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Papa John’s Int’l during the 4th quarter worth about $17,975,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its holdings in Papa John’s Int’l by 843.2% during the 4th quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 229,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,491,000 after buying an additional 205,138 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its holdings in Papa John’s Int’l by 65.0% during the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 492,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,123,000 after buying an additional 194,116 shares during the period.

Several research firms have issued reports on PZZA. Oppenheimer restated a “hold” rating on shares of Papa John’s Int’l in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Stephens boosted their price objective on Papa John’s Int’l from $61.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Longbow Research boosted their price objective on Papa John’s Int’l from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Papa John’s Int’l from $67.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group boosted their price objective on Papa John’s Int’l from $71.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $74.79.

NASDAQ:PZZA opened at $75.93 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $72.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.70. Papa John’s Int’l, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.55 and a 52 week high of $84.30. The company has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 3,796.50, a P/E/G ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 0.91.

Papa John’s Int’l (NASDAQ:PZZA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.25). The company had revenue of $409.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $413.61 million. Papa John’s Int’l had a negative return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 0.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.31 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Papa John’s Int’l, Inc. will post 1.44 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.225 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. Papa John’s Int’l’s payout ratio is currently 76.92%.

About Papa John’s Int’l

Papa John's International, Inc operates and franchises pizza delivery and carryout restaurants under the Papa John's trademark in the United States and internationally. It operates through four segments: Domestic Company-Owned Restaurants, North America Commissaries, North America Franchising, and International Operations.

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