Rhumbline Advisers Acquires 6,239 Shares of Potbelly Co. (NASDAQ:PBPB)

Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Potbelly Co. (NASDAQ:PBPB) by 21.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,146 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,239 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.12% of Potbelly worth $282,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Potbelly by 9,350.6% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 7,761 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in Potbelly in the 4th quarter worth approximately $216,000. 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 worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472 shares during the period. Tectonic Advisors LLC bought a new position in Potbelly in the 1st quarter worth approximately $271,000. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC boosted its stake in Potbelly by 73.1% in the 4th quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 45,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 19,118 shares during the period. 72.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Potbelly Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of PBPB opened at $8.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $250.67 million, a PE ratio of 70.00 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a fifty day moving average of $7.65 and a 200 day moving average of $8.78. Potbelly Co. has a 52-week low of $6.28 and a 52-week high of $14.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Potbelly (NASDAQ:PBPB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $119.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.00 million. Potbelly had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 7.58%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.07 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Potbelly Co. will post 0.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Nierenberg Investment Manageme purchased 23,394 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $6.62 per share, for a total transaction of $154,868.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,561,985 shares in the company, valued at $10,340,340.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 9.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PBPB shares. Craig Hallum lowered their target price on Potbelly from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Potbelly in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Potbelly presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.