Short Interest in Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) Expands By 46.5%

Papa Johns International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,510,000 shares, an increase of 46.5% from the January 31st total of 3,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,520,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days. Approximately 17.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PZZA shares. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Papa Johns International from $73.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. KeyCorp cut shares of Papa Johns International from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Papa Johns International from $56.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Papa Johns International from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Papa Johns International in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Papa Johns International has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.67.

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Papa Johns International Stock Performance

PZZA traded up $1.47 during trading on Friday, reaching $47.99. The company had a trading volume of 1,394,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,786,073. Papa Johns International has a 12-month low of $35.28 and a 12-month high of $72.88. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $41.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.74. The company has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.72, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.19.

Papa Johns International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Papa Johns International's payout ratio is 73.02%.

Institutional Trading of Papa Johns International

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Papa Johns International by 225.4% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,331 shares of the company's stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 922 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Papa Johns International during the third quarter worth $773,000. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $123,129,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070,485 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in Papa Johns International by 19.0% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 7,096 shares of the company's stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Papa Johns International in the third quarter valued at about $419,000.

Papa Johns International Company Profile

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.