First Watch Restaurant Group (FWRG) Competitors

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) and Portillo's (NASDAQ:PTLO) are both small-cap retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their community ranking, institutional ownership, dividends, media sentiment, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings and risk.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer FWRG or PTLO?

First Watch Restaurant Group received 17 more outperform votes than Portillo's when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 55.26% of users gave First Watch Restaurant Group an outperform vote while only 45.45% of users gave Portillo's an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Watch Restaurant Group	Outperform Votes 42 55.26%	Underperform Votes 34 44.74%
Portillo's	Outperform Votes 25 45.45%	Underperform Votes 30 54.55%

Do insiders & institutionals believe in FWRG or PTLO?

96.1% of First Watch Restaurant Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.3% of Portillo's shares are held by institutional investors. 5.0% of First Watch Restaurant Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.6% of Portillo's shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media favor FWRG or PTLO?

In the previous week, First Watch Restaurant Group had 12 more articles in the media than Portillo's. MarketBeat recorded 25 mentions for First Watch Restaurant Group and 13 mentions for Portillo's. First Watch Restaurant Group's average media sentiment score of 0.38 beat Portillo's' score of 0.17 indicating that First Watch Restaurant Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Watch Restaurant Group	4 Very Positive mention(s)	7 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Portillo's	3 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts prefer FWRG or PTLO?

First Watch Restaurant Group currently has a consensus price target of $23.30, indicating a potential upside of 21.29%. Portillo's has a consensus price target of $14.00, indicating a potential upside of 16.76%. Given First Watch Restaurant Group's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe First Watch Restaurant Group is more favorable than Portillo's.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Watch Restaurant Group	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.90
Portillo's	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.43

Which has better valuation & earnings, FWRG or PTLO?

First Watch Restaurant Group has higher revenue and earnings than Portillo's. Portillo's is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Watch Restaurant Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Watch Restaurant Group	$891.55M	1.31	$25.39M	$0.33	58.21
Portillo's	$679.91M	1.29	$18.42M	$0.42	28.55

Which has more volatility & risk, FWRG or PTLO?

First Watch Restaurant Group has a beta of 0.85, meaning that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Portillo's has a beta of 1.78, meaning that its share price is 78% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is FWRG or PTLO more profitable?

Portillo's has a net margin of 3.65% compared to First Watch Restaurant Group's net margin of 2.09%. Portillo's' return on equity of 5.62% beat First Watch Restaurant Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Watch Restaurant Group	2.09%	3.61%	1.53%
Portillo's	3.65%	5.62%	1.82%

Summary

First Watch Restaurant Group beats Portillo's on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.