First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) Earns Overweight Rating from Stephens

Stephens restated their overweight rating on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG - Free Report) in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $24.00 target price on the stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on FWRG. TD Securities reissued a "hold" rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Bank of America lifted their target price 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. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $21.00 price target (down from $24.00) on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $21.00 target price on First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.27.

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First Watch Restaurant Group Price Performance

NASDAQ FWRG traded up $1.12 during trading on Thursday, reaching $17.46. 754,564 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 649,754. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 1-year low of $12.90 and a 1-year high of $25.98. The company has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.91. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $19.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.54.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $263.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.04 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Watch Restaurant Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FWRG. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,095,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 59.0% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group in the fourth quarter worth $15,506,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the fourth quarter worth $12,732,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 479,741 shares during the period. 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.