Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 263,101 Shares of First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG - Free Report) by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,311,905 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 263,101 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 2.19% of First Watch Restaurant Group worth $22,683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 28.0% in the 2nd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,500 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 10,972 shares of the company's stock worth $190,000 after acquiring an additional 633 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 124,309 shares of the company's stock worth $2,101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,098 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 117.8% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,047 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,107 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 21,373 shares of the company's stock worth $279,000 after acquiring an additional 1,209 shares during the period. 96.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Watch Restaurant Group news, Director William A. Kussell sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.53, for a total value of $307,950.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,795 shares of the company's stock, valued at $426,921.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Christopher Anthony Tomasso sold 121,995 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.45, for a total transaction of $2,982,777.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 431,871 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,559,245.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William A. Kussell sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.53, for a total value of $307,950.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,795 shares in the company, valued at $426,921.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,091,741 shares of company stock valued at $170,160,841 over the last three months. Company insiders own 4.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on FWRG shares. Citigroup upped their price target on First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays increased their target price on First Watch Restaurant Group from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on First Watch Restaurant Group from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. TD Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on First Watch Restaurant Group from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $26.00.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ FWRG traded down $0.68 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $22.57. The company had a trading volume of 249,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 526,437. First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.34 and a fifty-two week high of $25.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.51. The firm has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.11.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.04. First Watch Restaurant Group had a return on equity of 4.62% and a net margin of 2.85%. The firm had revenue of $244.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $237.20 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.01) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 31.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. will post 0.46 EPS for the current 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.