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

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,520,000 shares, an increase of 7.1% from the March 15th total of 4,220,000 shares. Currently, 14.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 480,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on FWRG. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on First Watch Restaurant Group from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Performance

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

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04. The firm had revenue of $244.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $237.20 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a return on equity of 4.62% and a net margin of 2.85%. The company’s revenue was up 31.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.01) EPS. On average, analysts expect that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Watch Restaurant Group news, Director William A. Kussell sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.53, for a total value of $307,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $426,921.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other First Watch Restaurant Group news, Director William A. Kussell sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.53, for a total transaction of $307,950.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $426,921.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Eric Richard Hartman sold 1,474 shares of First Watch Restaurant Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.03, for a total value of $36,894.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 have sold a total of 7,091,741 shares of company stock worth $170,160,841 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Watch Restaurant Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 170.4% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,278 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 355.7% during the third 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 last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in First Watch Restaurant Group in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in 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 valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted 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 worth $39,000 after buying an additional 2,166 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.11% of the company’s stock.

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.