Emerald Advisers LLC Buys New Shares in First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. $FWRG

Emerald Advisers LLC bought a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 384,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,173,000. Emerald Advisers LLC owned approximately 0.63% of First Watch Restaurant Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. acquired a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $259,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 203.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 238,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,974,000 after buying an additional 160,040 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 30.7% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 86,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,443,000 after purchasing an additional 20,361 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 612,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,195,000 after acquiring an additional 92,650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 708,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,799,000 after acquiring an additional 15,304 shares in the last quarter. 96.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Watch Restaurant Group

In other news, major shareholder International L.P. Advent sold 4,400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.67, for a total transaction of $77,748,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,289,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,470,483.28. This represents a 45.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on FWRG. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.09.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Down 3.6%

Shares of NASDAQ FWRG opened at $17.06 on Thursday. 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 0.42, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 284.38, a PEG ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.87.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $307.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $304.94 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 0.37% and a return on equity of 0.69%. The firm’s revenue was up 19.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.14 earnings per share. First Watch Restaurant Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts expect 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.