Short Interest in First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) Increases By 7.1%

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

Insider Transactions at First Watch Restaurant Group

In other news, Director William A. Kussell sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.53, for a total value of $307,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,795 shares in the company, valued at $426,921.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director William A. Kussell sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.53, for a total transaction of $307,950.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $426,921.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Eric Richard Hartman sold 1,474 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.03, for a total transaction of $36,894.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 51,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,286,967.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,091,741 shares of company stock valued at $170,160,841 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 170.4% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,278 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 355.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,775 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 117.8% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 3,232.8% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 2,166 shares during the period. 96.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Watch Restaurant Group Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:FWRG opened at $22.05 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of 53.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50 day moving average is $24.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 52 week low of $14.34 and a 52 week high of $25.88.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FWRG. Raymond James lifted their target price on First Watch Restaurant Group from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on First Watch Restaurant Group from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays upped their target price on 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. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average 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.