First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) have received an average rating of “Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.45.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday. TD Securities upgraded First Watch Restaurant Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $21.00 target price on First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, 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 research report on Tuesday, March 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Christopher Anthony Tomasso sold 42,039 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total value of $706,675.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 389,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,553,075.92. The trade was a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jay Anthony Wolszczak sold 5,743 shares of the firm’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 $96,539.83. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $634,880.08. The trade was a 13.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the 4th quarter valued at $39,095,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 59.0% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in First Watch Restaurant Group in the fourth quarter valued at $15,506,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $12,732,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,351,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,764,000 after buying an additional 479,741 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.11% of the company’s stock.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Down 4.9 %

NASDAQ:FWRG opened at $16.33 on Friday. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 52 week low of $12.90 and a 52 week high of $25.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $19.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $991.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.91. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $263.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $262.82 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a return on equity of 3.61% and a net margin of 2.09%. First Watch Restaurant Group’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.04 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.32 EPS for the current 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.