Potbelly Co. (NASDAQ:PBPB) Receives $13.67 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Potbelly Co. (NASDAQ:PBPB - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the four ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.67.

PBPB has been the subject of several research reports. Benchmark upgraded shares of Potbelly from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $15.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Potbelly from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, William Blair reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Potbelly in a research report on Friday, March 8th.

Potbelly Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PBPB traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $11.21. The stock had a trading volume of 308,147 shares, compared to its average volume of 283,555. The company has a market capitalization of $331.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.06 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $12.62 and a 200-day moving average of $10.60. 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 quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Potbelly (NASDAQ:PBPB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.02. Potbelly had a net margin of 1.04% and a return on equity of 50.06%. The company had revenue of $125.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $125.80 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Potbelly will post 0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Potbelly

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PBPB. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Potbelly by 234.3% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,594,190 shares of the company's stock worth $13,997,000 after buying an additional 1,117,254 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Potbelly by 34.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,566,193 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,216,000 after purchasing an additional 405,497 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Potbelly by 287.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 375,982 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,301,000 after purchasing an additional 279,046 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Potbelly by 107.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 471,647 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,141,000 after purchasing an additional 243,827 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Potbelly by 404.3% during the 2nd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 216,196 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,898,000 after purchasing an additional 173,326 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.60% of the company's stock.

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.