Potbelly Co. (NASDAQ:PBPB) Shares Purchased by Los Angeles Capital Management LLC

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Potbelly Co. (NASDAQ:PBPB) by 28.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 243,662 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 54,667 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Potbelly were worth $2,951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Potbelly in the fourth quarter valued at $216,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Potbelly by 464.7% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 5,126 shares in the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC boosted its stake in Potbelly by 73.1% in the fourth quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 45,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 19,118 shares in the last quarter. Millrace Asset Group Inc. acquired a new position in Potbelly in the fourth quarter valued at $1,391,000. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Potbelly by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 814,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,489,000 after acquiring an additional 76,748 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on PBPB shares. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Potbelly in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Potbelly in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.00.

Potbelly Price Performance

Shares of PBPB opened at $7.24 on Friday. Potbelly Co. has a fifty-two week low of $7.12 and a fifty-two week high of $14.36. The company has a market capitalization of $216.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.33 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.48.

Potbelly (NASDAQ:PBPB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $111.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.80 million. Potbelly had a net margin of 0.76% and a return on equity of 36.44%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Potbelly Co. will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Potbelly 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.