First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $26.00.

Several research firms recently weighed in on FWRG. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric Richard Hartman sold 1,474 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.03, for a total transaction of $36,894.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 51,417 shares in the company, valued at $1,286,967.51. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Eric Richard Hartman sold 1,474 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.03, for a total transaction of $36,894.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 51,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,286,967.51. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William A. Kussell sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.53, for a total transaction of $307,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $426,921.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,091,741 shares of company stock valued at $170,160,841. 4.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 21,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates bought a new position in First Watch Restaurant Group during the first quarter valued at about $535,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 30.7% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 26,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 6,337 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers bought a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group in the first quarter worth about $137,000. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 47.1% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 77,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,048,000 after acquiring an additional 24,883 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.11% of the company’s stock.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Down 2.9 %

FWRG stock opened at $22.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 55.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.11. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 12 month low of $14.34 and a 12 month high of $25.88.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.04. The company had revenue of $244.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $237.20 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 4.62%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.01) EPS. Equities analysts expect that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About First Watch Restaurant Group

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.