Potbelly Co. (NASDAQ:PBPB) Short Interest Up 24.1% in July

Potbelly Co. (NASDAQ:PBPB) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,390,000 shares, an increase of 24.1% from the July 15th total of 1,120,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 250,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.5 days. Approximately 5.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on PBPB. Craig Hallum decreased their price target on shares of Potbelly from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Potbelly in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.33.

Potbelly Price Performance

Shares of Potbelly stock traded up $0.42 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $7.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 186,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 259,264. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $7.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $235.45 million, a P/E ratio of 65.75 and a beta of 1.16. Potbelly has a one year low of $6.28 and a one year high of $14.36.

Potbelly (NASDAQ:PBPB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $119.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.00 million. Potbelly had a return on equity of 36.55% and a net margin of 7.58%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.07 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Potbelly will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Potbelly

In other Potbelly news, major shareholder Nierenberg Investment Manageme bought 23,394 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $6.62 per share, with a total value of $154,868.28. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 1,561,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,340,340.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders acquired a total of 71,780 shares of company stock valued at $473,829 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Potbelly

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Potbelly during the 2nd quarter valued at about $86,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Potbelly by 36.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 111,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $893,000 after buying an additional 29,747 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in shares of Potbelly during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,070,000. 272 Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Potbelly in the second quarter worth approximately $291,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Potbelly during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $438,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.60% of the company’s stock.

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.