First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) Shares Sold by Federated Hermes Inc.

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 17.1%, owning approximately 1.57% of the company valued at $15.93 million after selling nearly 200,000 shares.
• Several institutional investors, including Champlain Investment Partners and Vanguard Group, significantly increased their holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group during the last quarter, indicating strong institutional interest in the stock.
• The company's stock has experienced recent downgrades in price targets from various brokerages, with an average target price now set at $20.82, despite a majority of analysts maintaining a "buy" rating.

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG - Free Report) by 17.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 957,000 shares of the company's stock after selling 197,465 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 1.57% of First Watch Restaurant Group worth $15,934,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 107.9% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 139,350 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,593,000 after acquiring an additional 72,328 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $305,000. LPL Financial LLC bought a new position in First Watch Restaurant Group during the fourth quarter worth $470,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,351,614 shares of the company's stock worth $43,764,000 after purchasing an additional 479,741 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on First Watch Restaurant Group from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, First Watch Restaurant Group currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $21.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Watch Restaurant Group news, major shareholder International L.P. Advent sold 4,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.70, for a total transaction of $66,150,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 14,689,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $215,939,824.80. This trade represents a 23.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Performance

FWRG stock traded up $0.59 on Wednesday, reaching $18.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,044,971 shares, compared to its average volume of 812,283. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $16.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 108.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.91. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $307.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $304.94 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a return on equity of 1.84% and a net margin of 1.03%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 19.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.14 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Watch Restaurant Group Company 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.