Wasatch Advisors LP Acquires New Position in First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG)

Wasatch Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 470,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,765,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new position in First Watch Restaurant Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $51,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group during the fourth quarter worth $81,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group in the third quarter valued at $157,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group in the fourth quarter valued at $200,000. 96.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FWRG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $21.00 target price (down previously from $24.00) on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $21.00 price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, TD Securities upgraded shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Watch Restaurant Group presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.45.

First Watch Restaurant Group Price Performance

Shares of FWRG opened at $18.73 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.76, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.02. First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $12.90 and a fifty-two week high of $25.98. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $18.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.33.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $263.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $262.82 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a return on equity of 3.61% and a net margin of 2.09%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.04 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Watch Restaurant Group news, CEO Christopher Anthony Tomasso sold 42,039 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total transaction of $706,675.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 389,832 shares in the company, valued at $6,553,075.92. The trade was a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jay Anthony Wolszczak sold 5,743 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total transaction of $96,539.83. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $634,880.08. This represents a 13.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.