First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) Short Interest Up 7.1% in July

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,930,000 shares, an increase of 7.1% from the July 15th total of 3,670,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 738,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.3 days. Approximately 12.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Down 0.1 %

FWRG stock opened at $16.51 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $16.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $996.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.47, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.88. First Watch Restaurant Group has a fifty-two week low of $14.05 and a fifty-two week high of $25.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $258.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $257.65 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 2.52% and a return on equity of 4.15%. First Watch Restaurant Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FWRG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on First Watch Restaurant Group from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $27.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Watch Restaurant Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Watch Restaurant Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 78,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,577,000 after acquiring an additional 2,763 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $393,000 after purchasing an additional 6,524 shares in the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation raised its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 226,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,545,000 after purchasing an additional 43,691 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group during the fourth quarter worth about $259,000. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,478,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,716,000 after buying an additional 6,494 shares in the last quarter. 96.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.