First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. $FWRG Shares Sold by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) by 45.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,719 shares of the company’s stock after selling 47,685 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC owned about 0.09% of First Watch Restaurant Group worth $605,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FWRG. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group during the 4th quarter worth $63,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the fourth quarter worth about $64,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the fourth quarter worth about $66,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 61.9% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 17,042.4% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 5,624 shares in the last quarter. 96.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FWRG. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Benchmark cut their price target on First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings cut First Watch Restaurant Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $14.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Watch Restaurant Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.27.

First Watch Restaurant Group Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of FWRG stock opened at $13.34 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $11.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.39. First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.97 and a twelve month high of $19.53. The company has a market capitalization of $822.41 million, a P/E ratio of 47.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.02). First Watch Restaurant Group had a return on equity of 2.85% and a net margin of 1.38%.The company had revenue of $330.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $329.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.01) EPS. First Watch Restaurant Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. will post 0.2 EPS for the current year.

First Watch Restaurant Group 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.