First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) Trading Up 7.6% – Here’s What Happened

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG)’s stock price was up 7.6% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $20.47 and last traded at $20.60. Approximately 73,338 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 456,649 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FWRG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of 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. Raymond James lifted their price target 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. Stephens boosted their price target on First Watch Restaurant Group from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.30.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of 62.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.12.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last released 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 business had revenue of $251.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $256.17 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 3.61%. First Watch Restaurant Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at First Watch Restaurant Group

In other news, major shareholder Advent Partners Gpe Viii Limit sold 8,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.76, for a total value of $158,080,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,189,784 shares in the company, valued at $379,190,131.84. This represents a 29.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $24,338,000 after purchasing an additional 189,740 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 112.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 62,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 32,849 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 98.7% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 39,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $693,000 after purchasing an additional 19,598 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 26.5% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,340,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,545,000 after buying an additional 281,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the second quarter worth about $281,000. 96.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.