Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA)

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

Papa Johns International Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PZZA opened at $41.07 on Thursday. Papa Johns International has a fifty-two week low of $38.25 and a fifty-two week high of $78.67. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.50. The company 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 (NASDAQ:PZZA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $506.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $497.28 million. Papa Johns International had a negative return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 4.51%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Papa Johns International will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

Papa Johns International Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Papa Johns International

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Papa Johns International by 66.9% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Papa Johns International in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Papa Johns International by 13.0% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 7,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $383,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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