Papa Johns International Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors acquired 8,857 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 223% compared to the typical volume of 2,744 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Papa Johns International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Papa Johns International in the second quarter valued at $93,586,000. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 88.1% in the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,285,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,129,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070,485 shares during the last quarter. Cowen AND Company LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Papa Johns International during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,736,000. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Papa Johns International by 25.9% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,170,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,991,000 after purchasing an additional 446,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Papa Johns International in the third quarter valued at approximately $15,845,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. KeyCorp lowered Papa Johns International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Papa Johns International in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Papa Johns International from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Bank of America raised their target price on Papa Johns International from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Papa Johns International currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.82.

Papa Johns International Trading Up 2.4 %

Papa Johns International stock opened at $41.07 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.16. Papa Johns International has a twelve month low of $38.25 and a twelve month high of $78.67. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.50.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Papa Johns International had a negative return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 4.51%. The company had revenue of $506.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $497.28 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. Papa Johns International’s revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Papa Johns International will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Papa Johns International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Papa Johns International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.11%.

Papa Johns 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.