Janus Henderson Group PLC Purchases New Stake in First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG)

Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 16,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $315,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC grew its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 505.3% in 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 in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 98.9% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,177 shares of the company's stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 7,547 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 44.2% in the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 947,240 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,552,000 after acquiring an additional 290,173 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 37.7% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 693,359 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,903,000 after acquiring an additional 189,681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SRH Advisors LLC grew its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 84.3% in the 4th quarter. SRH Advisors LLC now owns 12,185 shares of the company's stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 5,575 shares in the last quarter. 96.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FWRG. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $21.00 price objective on First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Benchmark decreased their price objective on First Watch Restaurant Group from $26.00 to $22.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. TD Securities decreased their price objective on First Watch Restaurant Group from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. TD Cowen upgraded First Watch Restaurant Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $22.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $21.00 price objective (down previously from $25.00) on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $21.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Christopher Anthony Tomasso sold 42,039 shares of the company'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 directly owns 389,832 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,553,075.92. This represents a 9.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Performance

FWRG traded up $0.48 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $16.25. 563,052 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 712,066. The stock has a market cap of $991.14 million, a P/E ratio of 49.24, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $17.42 and a 200 day moving average of $18.64. 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 52 week low of $12.90 and a 52 week high of $22.71.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $282.24 million for 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 company's revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.12 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.