Popeyes Moved To 3.5-Star Stock By Vetr Crowd

• Shares of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc PLKI have been pretty much flat over the past six months, and up only 2.4 percent since the beginning of the year.
• However, the stock still managed to outperform peers like Yum! Brands, Inc. YUM and El Pollo LoCo Holdings Inc LOCO, and it seems like the Vetr crowd thinks the outperformance can continue.
• In this context, they upgraded the stock’s rating from 3 stars to 3.5 stars.

On Wednesday, the Vetr crowd upgraded Popeyes’ stock from three stars to 3.5 stars, although only 60 percent of the crowd's ratings being bullish. It should be noted that the site's algorithm considers several factors on top of Buy, Hold or Sell ratings to award stars.

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In addition to the 3.5 star, Buy rating, the Vetr crowd has issued a $60 price target, which implies an upside potential of almost 5 percent. Wall Street is considerably more optimistic, and boasts an average price target of $65.

How Strong Is Popeyes?

A few major Wall Street research firms have weighed in on Popeyes’ strength recently. On Tuesday, analysts at Maxim Group issued a Buy rating and $68 price target on the stock.

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On the other hand, about a month ago, Longbow Research downgraded the shares’ rating from Buy to Neutral after checks suggested that system-wide same-store sales growth in the US has been below the estimate and the consensus during 3Q15.

Finally, a few days ago, Jim Cramer said on CNBC's Mad Money that he liked Popeyes’ latest results and its CEO, and thus recommended viewers holding their long positions at the company.

Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no positions in any of the securities mentioned above.