First Eagle Investment Management LLC Buys 152,200 Shares of Potbelly Co. (NASDAQ:PBPB)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Potbelly Co. (NASDAQ:PBPB) by 17.7% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,011,328 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 152,200 shares during the quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Potbelly were worth $8,121,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Potbelly by 7.0% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 22,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 1,472 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Potbelly in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Potbelly by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 55,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 3,999 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Potbelly by 8.8% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 61,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $747,000 after buying an additional 4,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in Potbelly by 47.9% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 15,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 5,118 shares during the last quarter. 72.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Potbelly

In other Potbelly news, major shareholder Nierenberg Investment Manageme purchased 45,772 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $6.48 per share, with a total value of $296,602.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,546,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,019,447.28. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Potbelly Price Performance

PBPB opened at $8.35 on Friday. Potbelly Co. has a 1 year low of $6.28 and a 1 year high of $14.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $250.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.08 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $7.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.99.

Potbelly (NASDAQ:PBPB) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $119.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.00 million. Potbelly had a net margin of 7.58% and a return on equity of 21.42%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.07 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Potbelly Co. will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PBPB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Potbelly in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Craig Hallum cut their price target on Potbelly from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Potbelly currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.33.

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.