In the battle for pizza-chain dominance, it was Papa John's International (PZZA) that took the cake (or rather the crust). The Consumerist reports that the latest results from the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index -- tracking points on customer expectations, perceived quality and value, customer complaints, and customer loyalty -- show Papa John's topped its peers in both the pizza business and the fast-food sector overall.

The chain improved its score by 6.7% from last year, hitting 80/100.

Continue reading Papa John's Wins Customer Satisfaction Poll - Really?

Papa John's Wins Customer Satisfaction Poll - Really? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 16 Jun 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

On Tuesday, investors drove call option implied volatility levels higher in the Mortgage Investment industry, and drove put option implied volatility levels higher in the Rental & Leasing Services industry.

Bullish Volatility Skews:

Capstead Mortgage Corp. (CMO)---part of the Mortgage Investment industry---came in at the top with a volatility skew of 1.24. This may come as a surprise as CMO is down -2.22 percent for the past month.

Continue reading Bullish and Bearish Volatility Skews: CMO, SDXC, TDY, RCII, COLM, PZZA

Bullish and Bearish Volatility Skews: CMO, SDXC, TDY, RCII, COLM, PZZA originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Baird upgraded Air Products (APD) to outperform from neutral on valuation following the sell-off after the company's bid for Airgas (ARG). The firm has an $89 price target on shares.
• JPMorgan upgraded Peabody Energy (BTU) to overweight from neutral as it believes the company is well positioned for 2010. The firm has a $50 price target on shares.
• Jefferies raised Adobe (ADBE) to buy from hold and has a $40 target on the stock. The firm believes concerns over the future of Flash are overblown and that shares of Adobe are attractive. Additionally, the firm expects CS5 to have a "decent" product cycle.
• Dell (DELL) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• SXC Health Solutions (SXCI) was upgraded to buy from hold at ThinkEquity.
• Harman (HAR) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Credit Suisse.

Continue reading Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades and Initiations: ADBE, APD, BTU, C, DELL, PKY, SFY, WEC ...

Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades and Initiations: ADBE, APD, BTU, C, DELL, PKY, SFY, WEC ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Merrill upgraded Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) to Buy from Neutral citing progress in the company's turnaround plan, execution, and 2009 earnings growth.
  
• Thomas Weisel raised Express Scripts (NASDAQ: ESRX) to Overweight from Market Weight and believes the company's core business remains strong and that valuation is attractive.
  
• Friedman Billings upgraded shares of Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation after checks indicated the company should meet Q2 expectations.
• NeuStar (NSR) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird.
  
• UBS raised Advance Auto Parts (NYSE: AAP) to Neutral from Sell.
  
• Goldman upgraded Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) to Buy from Neutral.

• Friedman Billings downgraded shares of Zions Bancorp (NASDAQ: ZION) to Market Perform from Outperform and lowered its target to $33 from $43 following the company's Q3 results, as they believe near-term credit trends and concerns surrounding its securities portfolio will limit upside. Shares were also downgraded at JP Morgan to Neutral from Overweight due to deteriorating credit trends.
  
• Banc of America cut Monster (NASDAQ: MNST) to Neutral from Buy to reflect a lack of margin stability and their belief consensus estimates remain too high.
  
• Barclays downgraded Avis Budget Group (NYSE: CAR) to Equal Weight from Overweight citing the global economic slowdown and refinancing risk.
• Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI), Luxottica (NYSE: LUX) and ArvinMeritor (NYSE: ARM) were cut to Neutral from Buy at Goldman.
  
• Luxottica was also downgraded at HSBC to Neutral from Overweight.
  
• JP Morgan cut AuthenTec (NASDAQ: AUTH) to Underweight from Neutral.

• Janney Montgomery believes Gladstone Capital's (NASDAQ: GLAD) management team and lower portfolio investment risk profile warrant a premium valuation. The firm started shares with a Buy rating and $13 target.
• CommVault (NASDAQ: CVLT) was initiated with a Buy rating and $14 target at Cantor, as the firm finds the stock attractively valued given its secular growth rate potential.
  
• KeyBanc is positive on Papa John's (NASDAQ: PZZA) management team, growth potential, cost initiatives, and differentiation. Shares were assumed with a Buy rating and $30 target.
• Arris (NASDAQ: ARRS) was initiated at Jefferies with a Hold rating and $7 target.
  
• Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: RIGL) was initiated at Banc of America with a Neutral rating and $21 target.
  
• Morgan Stanley started Hansen Natural (NASDAQ: HANS) with an Equal Weight rating.

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: KFT, SYMC, CAR, GLAD, HANS ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Domino's Pizza (DPZ) Q3 profit plunges 55 percent originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Oct 2007 10:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you're a fan of using insider sentiment to predict the future course of a stock, you may want to stay far away from Papa John's (NASDAQ: PZZA).

A piece in this week's Barron's takes a look at the pattern of insider selling at the company. The long list of form 4's for the company's page in the SEC's Edgar Database tells the story: Shares of Papa John's have been weak performers of late, but that hasn't stopped founder John Schnatter from selling $8.5 million worth of stock on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week alone. Of course, the company explained that the sales were motivated by estate planning and diversification needs, but would he really be dumping if he thought the stock was about to go on a run?

In addition to the sales, Schnatter has also recently reduced his role with the company. He has gone from "executive chairman" to "non-employee founder chairman," and is now receiving stock options in lieu of a cash salary. He will continue to act as a spokesman in the company's ads.

Many restaurant companies have struggled as their entrepreneurial founders reduced their roles and eventually left. Wendy's (NYSE: WEN) is the most high-profile example of this, having struggled mightily since founder Dave Thomas's passing. A video posted on YouTube describes Schnatter's journey from a tiny restaurant to a huge franchise and, while less iconic, it would not be a stretch to suspect a similar fate for Papa John's.

Taken at face value, the insider sales are not a reason to go bearish on Papa John's, but Schnatter's reduced role in the company he founded could be a serious risk factor.

Papa John's (PZZA) founder serves up shares of his declining stock originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 04 Sep 2007 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Matrix downgraded shares of Papa John's (NASDAQ: PZZA) to Hold from Strong Buy to reflect minimal improvement to fundamentals and negative free cash flow trends.

• Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN) was downgraded to Peer Perform from Outperform based on valuation as the firm believes shares fully reflect solid Las Vegas & Macau fundamentals and the company's development pipeline.

• SourceForge (NASDAQ: LNUX) was cut to Underperform from Market perform at JMP Securities, with a $3 target, following the disappointing results.

• Merrill Lynch downgraded Cathay Pacific (OTC: CPCAY) to Sell from Buy on valuation.

• Arthur J. Gallagher (NYSE: AJG) was cut to Underperform from Peer Perform at Bear Stearns as they believe margin expansion will be lower than expected, softening insurance pricing will impact organic growth, and cites managements acquisition desires over aggressive repurchases...

• PolyMedica (NASDAQ: PLMD) was downgraded to Hold from Buy.

• Merrill downgraded Polo Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL) to Neutral from Buy.

• Morgan Stanley cut Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) to Underwieght from Overweight.

• JP Morgan downgraded Sonic (NASDAQ: SONC) to Neutral from Overweight.

Analyst downgrades 8-29-07: ACI, PZZA, RL and WYNN originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 29 Aug 2007 10:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apparently all those newspaper articles telling Americans we are fat are beginning to have an effect

. For two consecutive quarters, Papa John's International, Inc. (Nasdaq: PZZA) has posted decreases in domestic sales at both company-owned restaurants and franchised locations. Recently released earnings report for 2Q 2007 stated U.S. pizza sales at Papa John's restaurants declined 1%. That's not enough to cause undue worry, but the company is also being squeezed by rising labor, utility, distribution and commodity costs. Revenues were up 6% to $256.3 million and EPS were $0.23, above analysts' expectations. But that amount is still half of what the company posted in 2Q 2006. In what is beginning to look like a disturbing pattern, revenues from the previous two quarters have increased while EPS has declined by 33%. In 2Q 2007, revenues increased due only to the acquisitions of 73 new locations. There was NO organic growth.

Figures for 2Q 2007 are not representative as they include restructuring and consolidation costs of BIBP Commodities, a cheese purchasing company Papa John's now owns and which it purchased in hopes of eventually realizing lower prices on dairy commodities. Operating income for the quarter was reported as up only if costs of BIBP were excluded.

The picture is a bit better for Papa John's international market. Good thing the Chinese don't mind getting fat. Despite the fact the international sales rose 2%, this segment still yielded operating losses though the losses of $2 million for 2Q are narrowing when compared to previous quarters. Papa John's has opened 8 new locations in South Korea and China, the company's fastest growing markets. A big, multi-year expansion plan calls for opening 100 new international locations per year for the next nine years. At least 369 of those new locations will be in Korea and China. Such expansion, however, does open Papa John's to financial problems associated with fluctuations in currency exchange rates.

Papa John's repurchased $10 million in stock during 2Q as part of a longer and larger $675 million buyback program. CEO Nigel Travis remains optimistic that sales and earnings will improve and has raised FY guidance from $1.52-$1.58 to $1.56-$1.60. This is good news. Let's celebrate with pizza.

Papa John's Pizza (PZZA) getting stale originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 28 Aug 2007 19:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In addition to Wendy's (NYSE: WEN) management's recent hiring of JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) and Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) to help review strategic options for the company, the fast-food restaurant has decided to throw its hat into the breakfast ring by signing an exclusive deal with Proctor & Gamble (NYSE: PG). The deal allows Wendy's to be the only major fast-food restaurant chain to offer a proprietary blend of Folgers Gourmet Selections coffee and will become part of Wendy's new breakfast menu.

The best part of waking up is Folgers in your Wendy's coffee cup originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 18 May 2007 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Following Q1 results, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Papa John's Int'l, Inc (NASDAQ: PZZA) to Buy from Neutral, citing better-than-expected revenue growth, improved margins and acquisitions.

• Soleil upgraded shares of ExpressJet Holdings (NYSE: XJT) to Hold from Sell with a $7 target due to the likely absence of any real news until at least August.

• Deutsche Bank assumed shares of Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) with a Buy, up from Hold, as the firm believes Vista will accelerate NVDA's growth rates making their 2008 estimates conservative.

• Citigroup upgraded shares of Georgia Gulf Corp (NYSE: GGC) to Buy from Sell based on an improved near-term outlook.

• MasterCard (NYSE: MA) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Stifel based on the lenders impressive Q1 results and pricing power...

• Baird upgraded Barnes Group Inc (NYSE: B) to Outperform from Neutral.

• Pacific Ethanol Inc (NASDAQ: PEIX) was raised to Hold from Sell at Hambrecht.

• LCA-Vision Inc (NASDAQ: LCAV) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Oppenheimer.

• Bernstein raised Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NYSE: BRL) to Outperform from Market Perform.

• Morgan Stanley upgraded Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR) to Equal Weight from Underweight.

Analyst upgrades 5-10-07: B, MA, NVDA and PZZA originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 May 2007 11:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cramer hot hot HOT for Chipotle Mexican Grill: 'burrito investing' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 09 Nov 2006 18:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.