Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Acquires 292,748 Shares of First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. $FWRG

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) by 21.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,659,799 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 292,748 shares during the quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC owned about 2.69% of First Watch Restaurant Group worth $17,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FWRG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,320,929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,080,000 after acquiring an additional 432,634 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,576,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,849,000 after acquiring an additional 133,402 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 51.7% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,335,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,468,000 after acquiring an additional 796,191 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 13.4% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,281,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,589,000 after purchasing an additional 269,726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverbridge Partners LLC grew its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 90.8% in the first quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC now owns 2,091,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,921,000 after purchasing an additional 995,671 shares in the last quarter. 96.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First Watch Restaurant Group Price Performance

FWRG opened at $13.09 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.34. First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.97 and a 52 week high of $19.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $807.00 million, a PE ratio of 46.75, a P/E/G ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 1.03.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $330.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $329.35 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a return on equity of 2.85% and a net margin of 1.38%.First Watch Restaurant Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.01) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Freedom Capital upgraded First Watch Restaurant Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $14.00 price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Benchmark cut their price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.27.

First Watch Restaurant Group Profile

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.