Short Interest in First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) Decreases By 21.7%

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,780,000 shares, a decline of 21.7% from the October 31st total of 4,830,000 shares. Currently, 9.4% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 707,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.3 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Watch Restaurant Group

In other news, major shareholder Advent Partners Gpe Viii Limit sold 8,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.76, for a total transaction of $158,080,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,189,784 shares in the company, valued at $379,190,131.84. The trade was a 29.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Watch Restaurant Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,611,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,674,000 after buying an additional 255,307 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 14.4% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,533,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,919,000 after buying an additional 192,471 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 15.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,385,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,338,000 after buying an additional 189,740 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,114,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,022,000 after buying an additional 136,871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 813,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,693,000 after acquiring an additional 59,508 shares during the period. 96.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen increased their price target on First Watch Restaurant Group from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Stephens increased their price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on First Watch Restaurant Group from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.30.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Performance

FWRG stock traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $18.90. 591,949 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 619,932. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 52-week low of $12.90 and a 52-week high of $25.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.55, a PEG ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $16.85 and its 200 day moving average is $16.90.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.02). First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 3.61%. The firm had revenue of $251.61 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.17 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.09 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

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.