Papa Johns International Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 8,857 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 223% compared to the average volume of 2,744 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PZZA. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Papa Johns International by 66.9% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Papa Johns International in the third quarter worth about $42,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Papa Johns International by 225.4% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 922 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 27.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the period. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Papa Johns International in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $156,000.

Papa Johns International Price Performance

PZZA opened at $41.07 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.54. The firm has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.31, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.16. Papa Johns International has a 1 year low of $38.25 and a 1 year high of $78.67.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $506.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $497.28 million. Papa Johns International had a net margin of 4.51% and a negative return on equity of 19.61%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Papa Johns International will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

Papa Johns International Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

About Papa Johns International

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.