Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 30,652 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 498% compared to the typical volume of 5,124 call options.

Institutional Trading of Papa John’s International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in Papa John’s International by 4,646.7% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 697 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 937.8% in the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Papa John’s International by 181.8% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 947 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 611 shares in the last quarter. Investors Research Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Papa John’s International during the 2nd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank lifted its position in shares of Papa John’s International by 7,600.0% during the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 988 shares during the last quarter.

Papa John’s International Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ PZZA opened at $40.97 on Thursday. Papa John’s International has a 52 week low of $30.16 and a 52 week high of $55.74. The stock has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $44.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.16.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.08). Papa John’s International had a net margin of 1.79% and a negative return on equity of 13.54%. The business had revenue of $508.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $523.67 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. Papa John’s International’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Papa John’s International will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Papa John’s International Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Papa John’s International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 164.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PZZA. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Monday. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Papa John’s International in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Stephens lowered their price target on Papa John’s International from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Mizuho upgraded Papa John’s International to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Monday, October 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.50.

About Papa John’s International

Papa John’s International, Inc engages in the operation and franchise of pizza delivery and carryout restaurants. It operates through the following segments: Domestic Company-owned Restaurants, North America Franchising, North America Commissaries, International Operations, and All Others. The Domestic Company-Owned Restaurants segment consists of retail sales of pizza and side items, breadsticks, cheese sticks, chicken poppers and wings, dessert items, and canned and bottled beverages.