Analysts Set Potbelly Co. (NASDAQ:PBPB) Price Target at $13.67

Potbelly Co. (NASDAQ:PBPB) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the four analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.67.

A number of research analysts recently commented on PBPB shares. Benchmark upgraded shares of Potbelly from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Potbelly from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Potbelly in a report on Friday, March 8th.

Institutional Trading of Potbelly

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Potbelly by 30.7% during the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 737,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,756,000 after acquiring an additional 173,227 shares in the last quarter. Millrace Asset Group Inc. acquired a new position in Potbelly in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,391,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Potbelly in the first quarter valued at about $1,411,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Potbelly in the third quarter valued at about $854,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Potbelly in the third quarter worth about $775,000. 72.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Potbelly Price Performance

NASDAQ PBPB opened at $10.12 on Friday. Potbelly has a 12 month low of $7.12 and a 12 month high of $14.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $300.36 million, a PE ratio of 62.81 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.00.

Potbelly (NASDAQ:PBPB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02. Potbelly had a net margin of 1.04% and a return on equity of 50.06%. The business had revenue of $125.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $125.80 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Potbelly will post 0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Potbelly

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.