First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) Short Interest Update

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,650,000 shares, a decrease of 7.2% from the January 15th total of 5,010,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 715,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.5 days. Approximately 11.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Watch Restaurant Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in First Watch Restaurant Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,095,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 59.0% in the 4th quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,582,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,057,000 after buying an additional 958,417 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $15,506,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,732,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,351,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,764,000 after acquiring an additional 479,741 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on FWRG shares. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on First Watch Restaurant Group from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays raised their price target on First Watch Restaurant Group from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Watch Restaurant Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.30.

First Watch Restaurant Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:FWRG traded up $1.62 on Tuesday, hitting $22.23. The company had a trading volume of 836,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 473,374. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $19.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.37, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.91. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 52 week low of $12.90 and a 52 week high of $25.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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.