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

Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders purchased 7,970 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 242% compared to the average daily volume of 2,333 call options.

Papa John’s International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PZZA traded down $2.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $55.08. The company had a trading volume of 1,439,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 798,932. The company has a market capitalization of $1.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.11. Papa John’s International has a 1-year low of $52.07 and a 1-year high of $86.38.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.18. Papa John’s International had a negative return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 3.84%. The company had revenue of $571.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. Papa John’s International’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Papa John’s International will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

Papa John’s International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Papa John’s International’s payout ratio is currently 74.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on PZZA. Benchmark reduced their target price on Papa John’s International from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. BTIG Research cut shares of Papa John’s International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Papa John’s International in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Papa John’s International from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Papa John’s International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $65.00 to $60.00 in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of Papa John’s International stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.21, for a total transaction of $202,626.06. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,320,228.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Papa John’s International

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Papa John’s International during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,368,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Papa John’s International by 11.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,479,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,381,000 after acquiring an additional 353,832 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Papa John’s International by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 146,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,158,000 after acquiring an additional 14,650 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 731.9% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 62,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,263,000 after purchasing an additional 54,949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 52.4% during the third quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 21,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,493,000 after purchasing an additional 7,521 shares during the last quarter.

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.