Papa Murphy’s, a Take N’ Bake pizza company that allows customers to custom-make pies they can bake at home, has been a troubled stock that got a boost from director Thomas H. Lee’s purchase of 9, 900 shares in the company on September 12 at $10.01. Shares rose 2% on Monday, and reached the mid-point of the stock’s trading range for the year. It has a market cap of $172 million.
Papa Murphy’s isn’t a very well-loved stock, with 57% of its shares sold short. The stock is down 17% since its IPO. Bears think that the Papa Murphy’s maybe oversaturated, with 1, 327 locations, and feel that growth has peaked. Some franchisees are facing lawsuits, and others may go under water.
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However, the company beat earnings estimates in mid-August by 2 cents with higher than expected revenues at $21.80 million compared to estimates of $21.60 million. It doesn’t seem that Papa Murphy’s is as bad as the bears say it is, and Thomas H. Lee seems to agree.
