Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) Short Interest Update

Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,160,000 shares, an increase of 18.5% from the December 31st total of 3,510,000 shares. Approximately 12.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,260,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Papa Johns International Trading Up 0.6 %

PZZA traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $39.82. 1,494,367 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,584,841. The company has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of 13.87, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $41.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.44. Papa Johns International has a 1-year low of $35.28 and a 1-year high of $76.91.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last posted its 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. Papa Johns International had a negative return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 4.51%. The business had revenue of $506.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $497.28 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Papa Johns International will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Papa Johns International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Papa Johns International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Papa Johns International

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Papa Johns International by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 827 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Papa Johns International in the second quarter valued at approximately $245,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Papa Johns International by 366.5% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 228,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,743,000 after buying an additional 179,653 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Papa Johns International by 168.9% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 14,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $663,000 after acquiring an additional 8,862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Papa Johns International in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,329,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PZZA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price target on Papa Johns International from $56.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Papa Johns International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Papa Johns International from $73.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Papa Johns International in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Papa Johns International from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.83.

About Papa Johns 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.