Arizona State Retirement System Invests $228,000 in First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG)

Arizona State Retirement System bought a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 505.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 172,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,690,000 after buying an additional 144,014 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 576,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,736,000 after acquiring an additional 49,826 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in First Watch Restaurant Group in the third quarter valued at about $5,757,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 769,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,008,000 after purchasing an additional 91,416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,986,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,988,000 after purchasing an additional 366,227 shares during the last quarter. 96.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jay Anthony Wolszczak sold 5,743 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total value of $96,539.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $634,880.08. This represents a 13.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher Anthony Tomasso sold 42,039 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total value of $706,675.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 389,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,553,075.92. This represents a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on FWRG. Bank of America increased their target price on First Watch Restaurant Group from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Wednesday. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $21.00 price objective on First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Watch Restaurant Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.36.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Performance

Shares of FWRG stock opened at $16.49 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business has a 50 day moving average of $19.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.12. The company has a market cap of $998.80 million, a P/E ratio of 49.97, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.90. First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $12.90 and a 52 week high of $25.98.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $263.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $262.82 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a return on equity of 3.61% and a net margin of 2.09%. First Watch Restaurant Group’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.04 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. will post 0.32 EPS for the current 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.