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

Potbelly Co. (NASDAQ:PBPB) major shareholder David Nierenberg acquired 22,169 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $9.36 per share, with a total value of $207,501.84. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 124,167 shares in the company, valued at $1,162,203.12. This represents a 21.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own 10% or more 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 shares were purchased at an average price of $9.23 per share, with a total value of $70,148.00.

Potbelly Trading Up 2.3 %

PBPB traded up $0.21 during trading on Monday, hitting $9.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 59,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 211,139. The firm has a market capitalization of $285.47 million, a P/E ratio of 7.64 and a beta of 1.50. Potbelly Co. has a twelve month low of $6.28 and a twelve month high of $13.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $11.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.87.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PBPB. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new stake in Potbelly during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,332,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Potbelly by 1,101.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 7,956 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Potbelly by 177.2% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 34,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 22,359 shares in the last quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Potbelly by 21.7% during the third quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC now owns 902,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,527,000 after buying an additional 160,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its position in Potbelly by 662.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 10,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 9,493 shares during the last quarter. 72.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Potbelly in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Potbelly in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Potbelly from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th.

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.