First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $23.30.

FWRG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on First Watch Restaurant Group from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Advent Partners Gpe Viii Limit sold 8,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.76, for a total transaction of $158,080,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,189,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,190,131.84. This trade represents a 29.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 5.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FWRG. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,533,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,919,000 after purchasing an additional 192,471 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 15.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,385,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,338,000 after buying an additional 189,740 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 14.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,114,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,022,000 after buying an additional 136,871 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 7.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 813,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,693,000 after acquiring an additional 59,508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deepwater Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 15.4% in the third quarter. Deepwater Asset Management LLC now owns 802,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,521,000 after acquiring an additional 106,976 shares during the period. 96.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Watch Restaurant Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:FWRG opened at $18.53 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.90. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 52 week low of $12.90 and a 52 week high of $25.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 56.15, a P/E/G ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.02). First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 3.61%. The business had revenue of $251.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $256.17 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal 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.