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

Shares of First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $23.30.

Several research firms have commented on FWRG. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on First Watch Restaurant Group from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on First Watch Restaurant Group from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th.

Insider Activity

In other First Watch Restaurant Group news, major shareholder Advent Partners Gpe Viii Limit sold 8,000,000 shares of First Watch Restaurant Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $379,190,131.84. This trade represents a 29.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Watch Restaurant Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group during the third quarter worth approximately $5,757,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,986,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,988,000 after buying an additional 366,227 shares during the period. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC purchased a new position in First Watch Restaurant Group during the third quarter worth about $5,120,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,719,000. Finally, Deepwater Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 68.5% during the 2nd quarter. Deepwater Asset Management LLC now owns 695,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,216,000 after purchasing an additional 282,765 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.11% of the company’s stock.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Performance

FWRG opened at $19.12 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.94, a PEG ratio of 5.68 and a beta of 0.89. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 1-year low of $12.90 and a 1-year high of $25.98. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

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