Papa John’s International Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors acquired 8,300 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 93% compared to the average volume of 4,301 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PZZA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Papa John’s International from $77.00 to $58.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Papa John’s International from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Papa John’s International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 9th. BTIG Research lowered shares of Papa John’s International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.80.

Insider Transactions at Papa John’s International

In other Papa John’s International news, CEO Ravi Thanawala acquired 1,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $52.41 per share, for a total transaction of $99,579.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 38,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,039,797.20. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Papa John’s International

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cutler Group LLC CA bought a new stake in Papa John’s International in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Papa John’s International by 396.5% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 422 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Papa John’s International during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Papa John’s International by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 819 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in shares of Papa John’s International during the fourth quarter worth $114,000.

Papa John’s International Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of PZZA stock traded down $0.75 on Monday, reaching $46.23. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,027,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 914,004. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.34. Papa John’s International has a 1 year low of $46.01 and a 1 year high of $86.38. The company has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.16.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $513.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $544.46 million. Papa John’s International had a net margin of 3.50% and a negative return on equity of 19.46%. Papa John’s International’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Papa John’s International will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Papa John’s International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. Papa John’s International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.78%.

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.