First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) Short Interest Update

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,520,000 shares, an increase of 7.1% from the March 15th total of 4,220,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 480,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 9.4 days. Approximately 14.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Transactions at First Watch Restaurant Group

In other news, insider Matthew Eisenacher sold 3,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.28, for a total value of $91,535.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $750,397.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Eric Richard Hartman sold 1,474 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.03, for a total transaction of $36,894.22. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 51,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,286,967.51. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Matthew Eisenacher sold 3,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.28, for a total transaction of $91,535.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $750,397.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,091,741 shares of company stock valued at $170,160,841. 4.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Watch Restaurant Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Invesco Ltd. bought a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,940,000. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 53.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 58,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,017,000 after buying an additional 20,400 shares during the last quarter. 12 West Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,717,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 201.4% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 75,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after buying an additional 50,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 48.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 32,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 10,534 shares during the last quarter. 96.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First Watch Restaurant Group Price Performance

NASDAQ FWRG opened at $22.14 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.58. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 52-week low of $14.34 and a 52-week high of $25.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.00, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.12.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04. The business had revenue of $244.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $237.20 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a return on equity of 4.62% and a net margin of 2.85%. First Watch Restaurant Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.01) EPS. Analysts anticipate that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on FWRG. Barclays upped their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.00.

First Watch Restaurant Group Company Profile

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates and franchises restaurants under the First Watch trade name 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. First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc was founded in 1983 and is based in Bradenton, Florida.