Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Reduces Stock Position in First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS decreased its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG - Free Report) by 37.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 298,167 shares of the company's stock after selling 179,470 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS owned about 0.49% of First Watch Restaurant Group worth $4,964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in First Watch Restaurant Group during the 4th quarter valued at $51,000. State of Wyoming grew its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 212.6% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 3,214 shares of the company's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 2,186 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $86,000. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 316.2% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 5,157 shares of the company's stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 3,918 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 1,617.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,445 shares of the company's stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 5,128 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.11% of the company's stock.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Performance

Shares of First Watch Restaurant Group stock traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $17.15. The company had a trading volume of 476,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 735,280. The firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of 100.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.90. First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. has a one year low of $12.90 and a one year high of $22.71. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.94.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.04 by ($0.05). First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 1.03% and a return on equity of 1.84%. The company had revenue of $282.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $282.98 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.12 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FWRG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on First Watch Restaurant Group from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $17.00 price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped 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 note on Thursday, May 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $21.55.

Insider Transactions at First Watch Restaurant Group

In other news, major shareholder International L.P. Advent sold 4,500,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $215,939,824.80. The trade was a 23.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 6.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.