Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,280,000 shares, an increase of 24.4% from the October 31st total of 3,440,000 shares. Currently, 13.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.2 days.

Papa Johns International Stock Performance

NASDAQ PZZA opened at $49.83 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 17.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.17. Papa Johns International has a twelve month low of $39.90 and a twelve month high of $78.67.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $506.80 million during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Papa Johns International will post 2.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Papa Johns International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 3.69%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Papa Johns International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.11%.

Institutional Trading of Papa Johns International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PZZA. Optimist Retirement Group LLC acquired a new stake in Papa Johns International during the third quarter worth about $286,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Papa Johns International by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 29,673 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,481,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Papa Johns International during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $312,000. Bares Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Papa Johns International during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $363,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in shares of Papa Johns International by 19.8% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 66,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,581,000 after purchasing an additional 10,964 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PZZA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Papa Johns International from $58.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Papa Johns International from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Papa Johns International from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Papa Johns International in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Papa Johns International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Papa Johns International has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.