First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) have earned an average rating of “Buy” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.82.

Several research firms have weighed in on FWRG. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on First Watch Restaurant Group from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $17.00 price objective on First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on First Watch Restaurant Group from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 18th.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of FWRG stock opened at $17.29 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $16.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.27. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 1-year low of $12.90 and a 1-year high of $22.71. The company has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 101.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 0.90.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.04 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $282.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $282.98 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 1.03% and a return on equity of 1.84%. The business’s revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.12 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at First Watch Restaurant Group

In related news, major shareholder International L.P. Advent sold 4,500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.70, for a total value of $66,150,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 14,689,784 shares in the company, valued at $215,939,824.80. The trade was a 23.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 6.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Watch Restaurant Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FWRG. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the 4th quarter worth about $39,095,000. Riverbridge Partners LLC acquired a new position in First Watch Restaurant Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $20,524,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 59.0% during the fourth quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,582,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,057,000 after purchasing an additional 958,417 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $15,506,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 3,919.8% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 834,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,900,000 after buying an additional 814,062 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.11% of the company’s stock.

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.