Potbelly Co. (NASDAQ:PBPB) Receives $14.33 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Potbelly Co. (NASDAQ:PBPB) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the three research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $16.00.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PBPB shares. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Potbelly in a report on Monday, August 12th. Craig Hallum dropped their price objective on shares of Potbelly from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th.

Potbelly Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of PBPB opened at $7.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $237.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.42 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50-day moving average of $8.05 and a 200 day moving average of $8.31. Potbelly has a 1-year low of $6.28 and a 1-year high of $14.36.

Potbelly (NASDAQ:PBPB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.03. Potbelly had a net margin of 7.58% and a return on equity of 21.42%. The firm had revenue of $119.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.07 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Potbelly will post 0.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Potbelly

In other news, major shareholder Nierenberg Investment Manageme purchased 23,394 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $6.62 per share, with a total value of $154,868.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,561,985 shares in the company, valued at $10,340,340.70. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 9.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Potbelly

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Potbelly during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,411,000. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Potbelly during the first quarter valued at about $5,820,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Potbelly by 17.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 1,011,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,121,000 after purchasing an additional 152,200 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in Potbelly in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,070,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Potbelly by 224.9% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 300,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,642,000 after purchasing an additional 208,170 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.60% of the company’s stock.

Potbelly Company Profile

Potbelly Corporation, through its subsidiaries, owns, operates, and franchises Potbelly sandwich shops in the United States. The company was formerly known as Potbelly Sandwich Works, Inc and changed its name to Potbelly Corporation in 2002. Potbelly Corporation was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.