Insider Selling: First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) Major Shareholder Sells 8,000,000 Shares of Stock

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) major shareholder Advent Partners Gpe Viii Limit sold 8,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.76, for a total value of $158,080,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,189,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,190,131.84. This trade represents a 29.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

First Watch Restaurant Group Trading Down 3.8 %

FWRG stock traded down $0.71 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $18.22. 1,026,906 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 611,273. First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $12.90 and a 52-week high of $25.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.54. The business has a 50 day moving average of $16.26 and a 200-day moving average of $17.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.21, a P/E/G ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.85.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.02). First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 3.61%. The business had revenue of $251.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $256.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.09 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Watch Restaurant Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $514,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 505.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 172,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,690,000 after acquiring an additional 144,014 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $157,000. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 49,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $770,000 after buying an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 813,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,693,000 after buying an additional 59,508 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on FWRG shares. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen upped their price target on First Watch Restaurant Group from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Raymond James upped their price target on First Watch Restaurant Group from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on First Watch Restaurant Group from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.30.

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.