Investors Purchase High Volume of Papa John’s International Put Options (NASDAQ:PZZA)

Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Traders bought 43,154 put options on the company. This is an increase of 2,322% compared to the average volume of 1,782 put options.

Papa John’s International Trading Up 1.9 %

PZZA opened at $62.50 on Friday. Papa John’s International has a 12 month low of $60.24 and a 12 month high of $86.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $68.38 and a 200 day moving average of $69.47. The firm has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.14.

Papa John’s International (NASDAQ:PZZA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.18. Papa John’s International had a negative return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 3.84%. The business had revenue of $571.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Papa John’s International will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Papa John’s International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. Papa John’s International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PZZA. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Thursday, January 4th. BTIG Research cut Papa John’s International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $87.00 target price on shares of Papa John’s International in a report on Friday, March 1st. StockNews.com cut Papa John’s International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 9th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on Papa John’s International from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Papa John’s International

In other Papa John’s International news, Director Laurette T. Koellner sold 2,886 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.21, for a total transaction of $202,626.06. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,320,228.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cutler Group LLC CA bought a new stake in shares of Papa John’s International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Papa John’s International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Papa John’s International during the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Papa John’s International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000.

Papa John’s 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.