Marshall Wace LLP Buys 201,289 Shares of First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG)

Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) by 986.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 221,702 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 201,289 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group were worth $4,126,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wasatch Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,765,000. Mariner LLC grew its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 21,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares during the period. 12 West Capital Management LP increased its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. 12 West Capital Management LP now owns 2,013,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,469,000 after purchasing an additional 337,920 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 52.5% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 39,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $741,000 after purchasing an additional 13,705 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the fourth quarter worth $1,674,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on FWRG. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen raised First Watch Restaurant Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on First Watch Restaurant Group from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Securities raised shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Watch Restaurant Group presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $22.73.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Performance

Shares of FWRG stock opened at $19.37 on Friday. First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $12.90 and a 12 month high of $25.98. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.54. The firm has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of 58.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $263.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $262.82 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a return on equity of 3.61% and a net margin of 2.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.04 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at First Watch Restaurant Group

In other news, insider Jay Anthony Wolszczak sold 5,743 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total transaction of $96,539.83. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,768 shares in the company, valued at $634,880.08. The trade was a 13.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Christopher Anthony Tomasso sold 42,039 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,553,075.92. The trade was a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

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.