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

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Papa Johns International

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Papa Johns International by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,589,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,371,000 after purchasing an additional 27,912 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Papa Johns International by 88.1% during the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,285,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,129,000 after buying an additional 1,070,485 shares during the period. Irth Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Papa Johns International during the 4th quarter valued at $66,883,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Papa Johns International by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,500,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,635,000 after buying an additional 102,128 shares during the period. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Papa Johns International by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,358,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,812,000 after buying an additional 173,316 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PZZA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Papa Johns International in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. 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 lowered their price objective on shares of Papa Johns International from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. KeyCorp cut shares of Papa Johns International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced 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 report on Tuesday, January 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.67.

Papa Johns International Stock Performance

Papa Johns International stock opened at $46.63 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.76. Papa Johns International has a 52 week low of $35.28 and a 52 week high of $72.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.19.

Papa Johns International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Papa Johns International’s dividend payout ratio is 73.02%.

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.