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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PZZA shares. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Papa Johns International from $61.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Papa Johns International from $58.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Bank of America raised their target price on Papa Johns International from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Papa Johns International in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Papa Johns International from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.82.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Papa Johns International

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Optimist Retirement Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Papa Johns International during the 3rd quarter worth $286,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Papa Johns International by 4.9% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 29,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,481,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Papa Johns International during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $312,000. Bares Capital Management Inc. purchased 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 stake in Papa Johns International by 19.8% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter.

Papa Johns International Stock Up 0.1 %

PZZA opened at $49.83 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.19. Papa Johns International has a 52 week low of $39.90 and a 52 week high of $78.67. The business’s 50 day moving average is $51.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.17.

Papa Johns International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $506.80 million for 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 firm’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Papa Johns International will post 2.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Papa Johns International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Papa Johns International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.11%.

Papa Johns International Company Profile

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.