David Nierenberg Buys 22,169 Shares of Potbelly Co. (NASDAQ:PBPB) Stock

Potbelly Co. (NASDAQ:PBPB) major shareholder David Nierenberg bought 22,169 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $9.36 per share, for a total transaction of $207,501.84. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 124,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,162,203.12. This trade represents a 21.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

David Nierenberg also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, January 7th, David Nierenberg acquired 7,600 shares of Potbelly stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of $9.23 per share, for a total transaction of $70,148.00.

Potbelly Price Performance

NASDAQ:PBPB opened at $9.51 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $11.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.88. The stock has a market cap of $284.16 million, a PE ratio of 7.61 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.49. Potbelly Co. has a one year low of $6.28 and a one year high of $13.48.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Potbelly by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 1,160,828 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,935,000 after purchasing an additional 49,000 shares during the period. Portolan Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Potbelly by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC now owns 986,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,291,000 after buying an additional 83,748 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Potbelly by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 617,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,815,000 after buying an additional 8,863 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Potbelly by 42.1% during the 4th quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 539,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,086,000 after buying an additional 159,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Monimus Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Potbelly during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,901,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PBPB shares. StockNews.com downgraded Potbelly from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Potbelly in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Potbelly in a research report on Friday, March 7th.

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.