First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) Shares Down 2.9% After Insider Selling

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG – Get Rating) was down 2.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $17.32 and last traded at $17.51. Approximately 41,776 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 203,358 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.03.

Specifically, Director David Paresky sold 4,025,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.47, for a total value of $62,266,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 37,539,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $580,740,458.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FWRG has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 8th. Citigroup dropped their price target on First Watch Restaurant Group from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 8th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $19.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. Finally, 3M reissued a “maintains” rating on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.75.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $15.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 7th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.03). First Watch Restaurant Group had a return on equity of 2.22% and a net margin of 1.51%. The firm had revenue of $185.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.63 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. will post 0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Watch Restaurant Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 23.4% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,580,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,883,000 after buying an additional 300,000 shares during the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group during the third quarter worth approximately $21,132,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 27.1% in the first quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,442,843 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,829,000 after acquiring an additional 307,925 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,254,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,154,000 after buying an additional 128,188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Granahan Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC now owns 928,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,569,000 after acquiring an additional 8,611 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.36% of the company’s stock.

First Watch Restaurant Group Company Profile

(Get Rating)

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc operates and franchises restaurants under the First Watch trade name. As of September 7, 2022, it operated 445 restaurants in 28 states in the United States. The company was formerly known as AI Fresh Super Holdco, Inc and changed its name to First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc in December 2019.