Potbelly Co. (NASDAQ:PBPB) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Potbelly Co. (NASDAQ:PBPB) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the four research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $13.67.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PBPB. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Potbelly in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Potbelly during the third quarter worth about $854,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Potbelly by 30.7% in the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 737,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,756,000 after purchasing an additional 173,227 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Potbelly in the third quarter valued at approximately $375,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Potbelly during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $775,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.60% of the company’s stock.

Potbelly Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Potbelly stock opened at $10.63 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $315.50 million, a P/E ratio of 66.44 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $11.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.75. Potbelly has a one year low of $7.12 and a one year high of $14.36.

Potbelly (NASDAQ:PBPB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.02. Potbelly had a net margin of 1.04% and a return on equity of 50.06%. The firm had revenue of $125.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $125.80 million. On average, analysts forecast that Potbelly will post 0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

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.