Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,920,000 shares, a decrease of 31.8% from the November 15th total of 4,280,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days. Approximately 9.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on PZZA. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Papa Johns International in a research note on Friday. UBS Group upped their price target 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. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Papa Johns International in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp cut Papa Johns International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Papa Johns International from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.82.

Papa Johns International Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PZZA traded down $2.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $44.79. The stock had a trading volume of 1,031,379 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,003,322. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $50.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.12. Papa Johns International has a one year low of $39.90 and a one year high of $78.67.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Papa Johns International had a net margin of 4.51% and a negative return on equity of 19.61%. The firm had revenue of $506.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $497.28 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Papa Johns International will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Papa Johns International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.11%. Papa Johns International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Papa Johns International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Papa Johns International during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $93,586,000. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Papa Johns International by 88.1% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,285,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070,485 shares during the period. Cowen AND Company LLC bought a new position in shares of Papa Johns International in the second quarter worth approximately $32,736,000. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Papa Johns International by 25.9% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,170,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,991,000 after buying an additional 446,477 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Papa Johns International in the third quarter worth $15,845,000.

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.