Analyzing Granite City Food & Brewery (OTCMKTS:GCFB) & First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG)

Granite City Food & Brewery (OTCMKTS:GCFB) and First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) are both small-cap consumer cyclical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Granite City Food & Brewery and First Watch Restaurant Group’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Granite City Food & Brewery	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
First Watch Restaurant Group	$800.30 million	1.38	$6.91 million	$0.27	68.74

First Watch Restaurant Group has higher revenue and earnings than Granite City Food & Brewery.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

96.1% of First Watch Restaurant Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 26.3% of Granite City Food & Brewery shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.5% of First Watch Restaurant Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Granite City Food & Brewery and First Watch Restaurant Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Granite City Food & Brewery	N/A	N/A	N/A
First Watch Restaurant Group	2.11%	3.18%	1.51%

Risk & Volatility

Granite City Food & Brewery has a beta of -3.56, suggesting that its stock price is 456% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Watch Restaurant Group has a beta of 1, suggesting that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Granite City Food & Brewery and First Watch Restaurant Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Granite City Food & Brewery	0	0	0	0	N/A
First Watch Restaurant Group	0	2	4	0	2.67

First Watch Restaurant Group has a consensus target price of $21.00, suggesting a potential upside of 13.15%.

Summary

First Watch Restaurant Group beats Granite City Food & Brewery on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Granite City Food & Brewery

Granite City Food & Brewery, Ltd. operates casual dining restaurants in the United States. The company's upscale casual dining restaurants include the Granite City Food & Brewery restaurant that offers various menu items and handcrafted beers, as well as other regional craft beers; and the Cadillac Ranch All American Bar & Grill restaurant that offers American cuisine, including homemade meatloaf and pasta dishes. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Bloomington, Minnesota.

About First Watch Restaurant Group

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. 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. The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Bradenton, Florida.