Potbelly Co. (NASDAQ:PBPB) Short Interest Down 15.6% in October

Potbelly Co. (NASDAQ:PBPB) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 688,100 shares, a drop of 15.6% from the September 30th total of 815,100 shares. Currently, 2.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 173,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Craig Hallum dropped their price objective on shares of Potbelly from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Potbelly in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.00.

Insider Activity

In other Potbelly news, major shareholder Nierenberg Investment Manageme purchased 23,394 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $6.62 per share, with a total value of $154,868.28. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,561,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,340,340.70. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 9.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Potbelly

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Potbelly by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 22,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 1,472 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of Potbelly by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 61,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $747,000 after purchasing an additional 4,971 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Potbelly by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 86,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 12,758 shares in the last quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Potbelly in the 1st quarter worth about $813,000. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Potbelly during the 1st quarter worth about $271,000. 72.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Potbelly Stock Performance

PBPB traded down $0.16 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $7.51. 127,924 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 230,075. The company has a market capitalization of $224.85 million, a P/E ratio of 6.36 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $8.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.21. Potbelly has a fifty-two week low of $6.28 and a fifty-two week high of $14.36.

Potbelly (NASDAQ:PBPB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.03. Potbelly had a net margin of 7.58% and a return on equity of 21.42%. The business had revenue of $119.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.07 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Potbelly will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.