First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) Upgraded to Buy at TD Securities

TD Securities upgraded shares of First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have $22.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $21.00.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $21.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective (down from $24.00) on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $22.45.

First Watch Restaurant Group Price Performance

First Watch Restaurant Group stock opened at $17.91 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $19.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.23. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 12-month low of $12.90 and a 12-month high of $25.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.27, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.91.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $263.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $262.82 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 3.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.04 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jay Anthony Wolszczak sold 5,743 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 13.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher Anthony Tomasso sold 42,039 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total value of $706,675.59. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 389,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,553,075.92. This trade represents a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Watch Restaurant Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 49,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $770,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 17,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 68.7% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC increased its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 21,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 1,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 78,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after buying an additional 2,033 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.11% of the company’s stock.

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.