Insider Selling: First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) Director Sells 6,165 Shares of Stock

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) Director William Kussell sold 6,165 shares of First Watch Restaurant Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.00, for a total transaction of $104,805.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 26,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $448,834. This trade represents a 18.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

First Watch Restaurant Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:FWRG traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $16.16. 589,415 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,384,491. The company has a market cap of $986.28 million, a P/E ratio of 202.03, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $16.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.01. First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $12.90 and a 52-week high of $22.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.03). First Watch Restaurant Group had a return on equity of 0.83% and a net margin of 0.42%.The firm had revenue of $316.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.31 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lowered their price target on First Watch Restaurant Group from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research cut shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised First Watch Restaurant Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.91.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Watch Restaurant Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 8,815.8% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,675 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new position in First Watch Restaurant Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 207.6% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,316 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 61.9% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 1,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 435.5% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 5,918 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 (NASDAQ: FWRG) operates a specialty daytime dining concept focused on breakfast, brunch and lunch. The company’s casual, full-service cafés emphasize fresh ingredients, made-to-order entrées and a seasonally driven menu that ranges from omelets and Benedicts to salads, skillets and afternoon sandwiches. First Watch positions itself as a daytime-only destination, with most locations opening early morning and closing by mid-afternoon.

Founded in 1983 by Ken Pendery and John Sullivan in Pacific Grove, California, First Watch began as a single café and gradually expanded through company-owned and select franchised locations.