Insider Selling: First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) Insider Sells 6,998 Shares of Stock

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) insider Jay Anthony Wolszczak sold 6,998 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.59, for a total value of $88,104.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 232,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,922,025.69. The trade was a 2.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

First Watch Restaurant Group Price Performance

Shares of First Watch Restaurant Group stock traded down $0.76 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $11.69. 1,754,873 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,801,113. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market cap of $714.42 million, a P/E ratio of 37.69, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.92. First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.56 and a 52 week high of $20.55.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.16. First Watch Restaurant Group had a return on equity of 3.20% and a net margin of 1.59%.The firm had revenue of $316.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $317.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.01 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FWRG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on First Watch Restaurant Group from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Friday, March 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.75.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Watch Restaurant Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 67.3% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 54,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $903,000 after purchasing an additional 21,830 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 31.8% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 22,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 5,497 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 84.6% in the 2nd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 22,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 10,277 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 207.6% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 1,316 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Alliance LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $162,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.11% of the company’s stock.

About First Watch Restaurant Group

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.