Noodles & Company’s (NDLS) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Benchmark

Noodles & Company (NASDAQ:NDLS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by research analysts at Benchmark in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $3.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock. Benchmark’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 114.29% from the company’s current price.

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Noodles & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th.

Noodles & Company Trading Down 1.1 %

NDLS traded down $0.02 during trading on Monday, hitting $1.40. 59,783 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 263,883. Noodles & Company has a 1 year low of $0.55 and a 1 year high of $2.36. The firm has a market cap of $63.95 million, a P/E ratio of -1.92 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $1.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.11.

Noodles & Company (NASDAQ:NDLS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The restaurant operator reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $121.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $123.43 million. Noodles & Company had a negative net margin of 6.59% and a negative return on equity of 108.23%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.07) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Noodles & Company will post -0.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Noodles & Company

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Noodles & Company stock. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Noodles & Company (NASDAQ:NDLS) by 17.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 147,300 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 21,800 shares during the quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.32% of Noodles & Company worth $85,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 65.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Noodles & Company

Noodles & Co engages in the business of development and operation of fast-casual restaurants that serve noodle and pasta dishes, soups, salads, and appetizers. The firm also offers pleasant dining, pick-up, and delivery experiences by quickly preparing fresh food with friendly service. The company was founded by Aaron Kennedy in 1995 and is headquartered in Broomfield, CO.