First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) Given “Overweight” Rating at Stephens

Stephens restated their overweight rating on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $24.00 price objective on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Bank of America upped their price target on First Watch Restaurant Group from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $21.00 price target (down previously from $24.00) on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $21.00 price objective on First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Watch Restaurant Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.27.

First Watch Restaurant Group Price Performance

NASDAQ FWRG opened at $16.85 on Thursday. First Watch Restaurant Group has a twelve month low of $12.90 and a twelve month high of $25.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 51.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.11.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.01 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $262.82 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 3.61%. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.04 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Watch Restaurant Group news, CEO Christopher Anthony Tomasso sold 42,039 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total value of $706,675.59. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jay Anthony Wolszczak sold 5,743 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total value of $96,539.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,768 shares in the company, valued at $634,880.08. The trade was a 13.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 59.0% in the 4th quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,582,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,057,000 after purchasing an additional 958,417 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,351,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,764,000 after purchasing an additional 479,741 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,141,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,848,000 after purchasing an additional 154,784 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the 4th quarter valued at $39,095,000. Finally, 12 West Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. 12 West Capital Management LP now owns 2,013,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,469,000 after purchasing an additional 337,920 shares during the period. 96.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.