First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) saw a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,310,000 shares, a growth of 19.7% from the November 30th total of 3,600,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 743,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.8 days. Approximately 10.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on First Watch Restaurant Group from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Guggenheim decreased 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 note on Friday, October 4th. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of 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. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Two 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.30.

First Watch Restaurant Group Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of First Watch Restaurant Group stock traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $18.70. The stock had a trading volume of 364,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 623,152. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $18.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 0.89. 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 has a 12-month low of $12.90 and a 12-month high of $25.98.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $251.61 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.17 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 shares were sold at an average price of $19.76, for a total transaction of $158,080,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Watch Restaurant Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rocky Mountain Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 180.1% during the third quarter. Rocky Mountain Advisers LLC now owns 6,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 4,250 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the third quarter worth $119,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the third quarter valued at $157,000. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the third quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, Commerce Bank purchased a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $208,000. 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.