Quadrature Capital Ltd Takes $1.14 Million Position in Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 17,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,142,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Cutler Group LLC CA purchased a new stake in Papa John’s International during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 396.5% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 422 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Papa John’s International in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 819 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in shares of Papa John’s International in the fourth quarter worth about $114,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Papa John’s International from $77.00 to $58.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 10th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Papa John’s International from $78.00 to $69.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Papa John’s International from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Papa John’s International from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Papa John’s International from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.10.

Papa John’s International Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PZZA traded down $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $40.93. 847,196 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,271,435. Papa John’s International, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.90 and a 12-month high of $86.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a PE ratio of 18.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $45.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.12.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $513.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $544.46 million. Papa John’s International had a negative return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 3.50%. The company’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Papa John’s International, Inc. will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Papa John’s International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.50%. Papa John’s International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Papa John’s International

In other Papa John’s International news, CEO Ravi Thanawala purchased 1,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $52.41 per share, with a total value of $99,579.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 38,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,039,797.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 8.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Papa John’s International Company Profile

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. The company operates through four segments: Domestic Company-Owned Restaurants, North America Commissaries, North America Franchising, and International Operations.