Papa John’s International Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders purchased 21,407 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 389% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,380 put options.

Papa John’s International Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PZZA opened at $43.08 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $45.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.44. Papa John’s International has a 52-week low of $39.90 and a 52-week high of $84.68.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.09. Papa John’s International had a net margin of 3.50% and a negative return on equity of 19.46%. The business had revenue of $513.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $544.46 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Papa John’s International will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Papa John’s International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.27%. Papa John’s International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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 shares were purchased at an average cost of $52.41 per share, with a total value of $99,579.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 38,920 shares in the company, valued at $2,039,797.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 8.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Papa John’s International

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PZZA. Seven Eight Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 396.0% in the first quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 16,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,105,000 after buying an additional 13,246 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new stake in Papa John’s International during the 4th quarter worth about $1,368,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Papa John’s International by 35.3% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 889,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,838,000 after acquiring an additional 232,177 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 146,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,158,000 after purchasing an additional 14,650 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its position in shares of Papa John’s International by 1.3% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 28,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,877,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PZZA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Papa John’s International from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Papa John’s International from $77.00 to $58.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Papa John’s International from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Papa John’s International from $78.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Benchmark cut their price target on shares of Papa John’s International from $87.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Papa John’s International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.89.

About Papa John’s 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.