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

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FWRG. Stephens boosted their price objective on First Watch Restaurant Group from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on First Watch Restaurant Group from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.30.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FWRG opened at $19.09 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $16.78 and its 200 day moving average is $16.93. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 12-month low of $12.90 and a 12-month high of $25.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.85, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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

Insider Activity at First Watch Restaurant Group

In related news, major shareholder Advent Partners Gpe Viii Limit sold 8,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.76, for a total value of $158,080,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Watch Restaurant Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Deepwater Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 68.5% during the second quarter. Deepwater Asset Management LLC now owns 695,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,216,000 after acquiring an additional 282,765 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,391,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 31,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $783,000 after purchasing an additional 4,294 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $5,757,000. Finally, Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 24.0% during the second quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 102,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,796,000 after buying an additional 19,782 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.11% of the company’s stock.

About First Watch Restaurant Group

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.