First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) Short Interest Update

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) was the target of a large drop in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,730,000 shares, a drop of 7.2% from the May 31st total of 4,020,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 622,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.0 days. Approximately 11.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Activity at First Watch Restaurant Group

In other First Watch Restaurant Group news, Director William A. Kussell sold 8,386 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.10, for a total transaction of $185,330.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,409 shares in the company, valued at $274,238.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 5.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FWRG. Invesco Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the third quarter worth $8,940,000. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $764,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 452.8% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 116,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,018,000 after acquiring an additional 95,581 shares during the last quarter. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $183,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,233,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,325,000 after acquiring an additional 5,889 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.11% of the company’s stock.

First Watch Restaurant Group Trading Down 4.2 %

First Watch Restaurant Group stock traded down $0.72 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $16.23. 1,417,265 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 573,412. The firm has a market capitalization of $979.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.71, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.60. First Watch Restaurant Group has a fifty-two week low of $15.90 and a fifty-two week high of $25.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $19.96 and its 200-day moving average is $21.54.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.02. First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 2.52% and a return on equity of 4.15%. The business had revenue of $242.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $245.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.15 earnings per share. First Watch Restaurant Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FWRG. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays reduced their target price on First Watch Restaurant Group from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.17.

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.