Panera Bread Company (NASDAQ: PNRA)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating restated by Zacks in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday. They currently have a $170.00 price target on the stock.
Zacks‘ analyst wrote, “Panera Bread’s fourth-quarter 2012 earnings per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny while its revenues fell short of the same. We remain optimistic on the stock based on Panera’s track record of delivering more than 20% growth in earnings per share for five years in a row, continued margin improvement amid a sluggish business environment and a decent 2013 outlook. The introduction of a new menu, increased media exposure, focus on off-premise catering programs, faster resurgence of higher-end consumers and stable traffic growth compared to its restaurant peers hold promise for future growth. However, stiff competition and overall tepid macroeconomic outlook, which might affect footfall at the restaurants, are expected to remain headwinds. The decelerating momentum of comps growth in the beginning of first quarter fiscal 2013 is indicative of lower discretionary spending by consumers. Hence, we maintain our Neutral recommendation on the stock.”
Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Analysts at Jefferies Group raised their price target on shares of Panera Bread Company to $190.00 in a research note to investors on Thursday, February 7th. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock. Separately, analysts at Miller Tabak upgraded shares of Panera Bread Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note to investors on Friday, January 25th. They now have a $190.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $187.00. Finally, analysts at Longbow Research initiated coverage on shares of Panera Bread Company in a research note to investors on Tuesday, January 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock.
Panera Bread Company traded up 1.43% on Wednesday, hitting $164.56. Panera Bread Company has a 1-year low of $135.40 and a 1-year high of $175.26. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $160.7. The company has a market cap of $4.805 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.54.
Panera Bread Company last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $571.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $574.09 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. Panera Bread Company’s revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Panera Bread Company has set its Q1 guidance at $1.62-1.66 EPS and its FY13 guidance at ~$6.89-7.00 EPS. Analysts expect that Panera Bread Company will post $7.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Panera Bread Company (Panera) s a national bakery-cafe concept with 1,541 Company-owned and franchise-operated bakery-cafe locations in42 states, the District of Columbia, and Ontario, Canada.
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