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

Stephens reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $24.00 target price on the stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $21.00 target price on First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America upped their target price on First Watch Restaurant Group from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $21.00 target price (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, TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, First Watch Restaurant Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.27.

First Watch Restaurant Group Price Performance

Shares of FWRG opened at $16.34 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $991.84 million, a P/E ratio of 49.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $19.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.12. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 1 year low of $12.90 and a 1 year high of $25.98.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.04 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at First Watch Restaurant Group

In other First Watch Restaurant Group news, CEO Christopher Anthony Tomasso sold 42,039 shares of the firm’s 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 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. This trade represents a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jay Anthony Wolszczak sold 5,743 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total value of $96,539.83. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $634,880.08. This represents a 13.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Watch Restaurant Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $48,057,000 after acquiring an additional 958,417 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 479,741 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,141,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,848,000 after purchasing an additional 154,784 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the fourth quarter worth about $39,095,000. Finally, 12 West Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. 12 West Capital Management LP now owns 2,013,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,469,000 after buying an additional 337,920 shares during the period. 96.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.