Should You Buy Papa John’s Int’l, Inc. (PZZA)?

Is it smart to be bullish on Papa John’s Int’l, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)?

To the average investor, there are a multitude of methods shareholders can use to monitor their holdings. Two of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top fund managers can outperform the S&P 500 by a healthy margin (see just how much).

Just as necessary, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to analyze the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are many motivations for an upper level exec to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if shareholders know where to look (learn more here).

What’s more, let’s discuss the newest info surrounding Papa John’s Int’l, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA).

How are hedge funds trading Papa John’s Int’l, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)?

At the end of the second quarter, a total of 11 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 22% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully.

When using filings from the hedgies we track, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the largest position in Papa John’s Int’l, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA). Renaissance Technologies has a $31.2 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Arrowstreet Capital, managed by Peter Rathjens Bruce Clarke and John Campbell, which held a $6.6 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedgies with similar optimism include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Ward Davis’s Caerus Global Investors.

With a general bullishness amongst the titans, particular hedge funds have jumped into Papa John’s Int’l, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) headfirst. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, initiated the biggest position in Papa John’s Int’l, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA). Renaissance Technologies had 31.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital also initiated a $6.6 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new PZZA investors: Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, and Ward Davis’s Caerus Global Investors.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Papa John’s Int’l, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA)?

Insider buying made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last 180-day time frame, Papa John’s Int’l, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll check out the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Papa John’s Int’l, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA). These stocks are Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ:BWLD), Bob Evans Farms Inc (NASDAQ:BOBE), Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK), DineEquity Inc (NYSE:DIN), and Texas Roadhouse Inc (NASDAQ:TXRH). This group of stocks belong to the restaurants industry and their market caps are similar to PZZA’s market cap.