First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of 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. Based on an average daily volume of 480,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 9.4 days. Approximately 14.4% of the company’s stock are sold short.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Up 0.4 %

First Watch Restaurant Group stock opened at $22.66 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.54. First Watch Restaurant Group has a fifty-two week low of $14.34 and a fifty-two week high of $25.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.27, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.04. First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 4.62%. The business had revenue of $244.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $237.20 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.01) EPS. First Watch Restaurant Group’s quarterly revenue was up 31.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.46 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased 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 research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price 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. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Insider Transactions at First Watch Restaurant Group

In other news, Director William A. Kussell sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $426,921.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director William A. Kussell sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $426,921.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric Richard Hartman sold 1,474 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.03, for a total transaction of $36,894.22. Following 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. 4.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,478,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,716,000 after buying an additional 6,494 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 27.1% in the first quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,442,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,829,000 after buying an additional 307,925 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,408,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,310,000 after purchasing an additional 175,074 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,356,145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,259,000 after purchasing an additional 44,240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 0.5% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,233,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,325,000 after purchasing an additional 5,889 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.11% of the company’s stock.

First Watch Restaurant Group Company Profile

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.