First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) Major Shareholder Sells $158,080,000.00 in Stock

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) major shareholder Advent Partners Gpe Viii Limit sold 8,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $379,190,131.84. This represents a 29.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

First Watch Restaurant Group Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of First Watch Restaurant Group stock opened at $18.22 on Monday. First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $12.90 and a 12-month high of $25.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 55.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.35 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average of $16.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.16.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last issued its earnings results 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). First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 3.61%. The company had revenue of $251.61 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.17 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.09 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 1832 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in First Watch Restaurant Group in the first quarter valued at about $3,333,000. Deepwater Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 68.5% during the 2nd quarter. Deepwater Asset Management LLC now owns 695,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,216,000 after purchasing an additional 282,765 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,391,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 102,306 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,796,000 after purchasing an additional 19,782 shares in the last quarter. 96.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.