Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Purchases New Holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD purchased a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 12,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FWRG. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 59.0% in the 4th quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,582,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,057,000 after acquiring an additional 958,417 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $15,506,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,732,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,351,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,764,000 after buying an additional 479,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP purchased a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,765,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.11% of the company’s stock.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Up 1.2%

First Watch Restaurant Group stock opened at $17.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $12.90 and a 1-year high of $22.71.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by ($0.05). First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 3.61%. The firm had revenue of $282.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $282.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.12 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $21.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $17.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.36.

Insider Activity at First Watch Restaurant Group

In related news, insider Jay Anthony Wolszczak sold 5,743 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total value of $96,539.83. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $634,880.08. This trade represents a 13.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Christopher Anthony Tomasso sold 42,039 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total transaction of $706,675.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 389,832 shares in the company, valued at $6,553,075.92. This represents a 9.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.