Comerica Bank Raises Position in First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG)

Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) by 316.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,157 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,918 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank’s holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group were worth $96,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arizona State Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the 4th quarter valued at $228,000. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 505.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 172,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,690,000 after buying an additional 144,014 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 576,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,736,000 after buying an additional 49,826 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 309,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,766,000 after purchasing an additional 58,448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,141,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,848,000 after acquiring an additional 154,784 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on FWRG shares. Guggenheim cut their price objective on First Watch Restaurant Group from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Stephens decreased their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. TD Securities reduced their price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. TD Cowen raised First Watch Restaurant Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $17.00 price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.36.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Performance

Shares of FWRG opened at $17.25 on Monday. First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $12.90 and a 12 month high of $22.71. The company’s fifty day moving average is $17.48 and its 200-day moving average is $18.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

First Watch Restaurant Group 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.