Raymond James & Associates Increases Position in First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG)

Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) by 217.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 122,917 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 84,231 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group were worth $2,471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 170.4% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,278 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 355.7% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,775 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 117.8% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 3,232.8% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 2,166 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at First Watch Restaurant Group

In related news, 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 value of $36,894.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 51,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,286,967.51. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other First Watch Restaurant Group news, CEO Christopher Anthony Tomasso sold 121,995 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.45, for a total value of $2,982,777.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 431,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,559,245.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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 shares were sold at an average price of $25.03, for a total transaction of $36,894.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 51,417 shares in the company, 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 valued at $170,160,841 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FWRG opened at $22.66 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.12. First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.34 and a 52 week high of $25.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $24.00 and a 200 day moving average of $20.54.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FWRG. Barclays boosted their price target on First Watch Restaurant Group from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on First Watch Restaurant Group from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup boosted their price target on First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Raymond James boosted their price target 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. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.00.

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.