First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) Stock Price Up 7.4% – Here’s What Happened

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG)’s stock price rose 7.4% on Monday . The company traded as high as $11.48 and last traded at $11.5590. Approximately 289,928 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 1,768,691 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.76.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FWRG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens cut their target price on First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Barclays cut their target price on First Watch Restaurant Group from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings downgraded First Watch Restaurant Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Friday, March 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Watch Restaurant Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.75.

First Watch Restaurant Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $672.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.47, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $13.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.54.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.16. First Watch Restaurant Group had a return on equity of 3.20% and a net margin of 1.59%.The company had revenue of $316.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $317.49 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.01 EPS. First Watch Restaurant Group’s revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at First Watch Restaurant Group

In other news, CFO H Melville Hope III sold 7,358 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.59, for a total transaction of $92,637.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 115,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,456,222.35. The trade was a 5.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher Anthony Tomasso sold 25,062 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total value of $313,776.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 957,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,985,583.80. The trade was a 2.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 74,178 shares of company stock worth $958,411 in the last three months. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Watch Restaurant Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,320,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,080,000 after purchasing an additional 432,634 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,576,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,849,000 after purchasing an additional 133,402 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 51.7% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,335,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,468,000 after purchasing an additional 796,191 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,281,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,589,000 after purchasing an additional 269,726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 2,032,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,653,000 after purchasing an additional 311,938 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 (NASDAQ: FWRG) operates a specialty daytime dining concept focused on breakfast, brunch and lunch. The company’s casual, full-service cafés emphasize fresh ingredients, made-to-order entrées and a seasonally driven menu that ranges from omelets and Benedicts to salads, skillets and afternoon sandwiches. First Watch positions itself as a daytime-only destination, with most locations opening early morning and closing by mid-afternoon.

Founded in 1983 by Ken Pendery and John Sullivan in Pacific Grove, California, First Watch began as a single café and gradually expanded through company-owned and select franchised locations.