Insider Buying: Potbelly Co. (NASDAQ:PBPB) Major Shareholder Acquires $296,602.56 in Stock

Potbelly Co. (NASDAQ:PBPB) major shareholder Nierenberg Investment Manageme bought 45,772 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $6.48 per share, with a total value of $296,602.56. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 1,546,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,019,447.28. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Nierenberg Investment Manageme also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, August 7th, Nierenberg Investment Manageme purchased 23,394 shares of Potbelly stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $6.62 per share, for a total transaction of $154,868.28.

Potbelly Stock Up 5.4 %

NASDAQ:PBPB traded up $0.37 on Friday, hitting $7.21. The stock had a trading volume of 477,596 shares, compared to its average volume of 261,633. Potbelly Co. has a 1 year low of $6.28 and a 1 year high of $14.36. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $215.16 million, a P/E ratio of 60.08 and a beta of 1.16.

Potbelly (NASDAQ:PBPB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $111.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.80 million. Potbelly had a net margin of 0.76% and a return on equity of 36.44%. Analysts predict that Potbelly Co. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Potbelly in the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,820,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Potbelly by 224.9% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 300,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,642,000 after buying an additional 208,170 shares during the last quarter. Western Standard LLC bought a new stake in shares of Potbelly in the first quarter valued at $2,208,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Potbelly by 152.1% during the 2nd quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 293,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,357,000 after buying an additional 177,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millrace Asset Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Potbelly during the 4th quarter worth $1,391,000. 72.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PBPB shares. Craig Hallum decreased their price target on shares of Potbelly from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Potbelly in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.33.

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.