First Watch Restaurant Group’s (FWRG) Overweight Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens reissued their overweight rating on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $25.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on FWRG. Piper Sandler increased their target price on First Watch Restaurant Group from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on First Watch Restaurant Group from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Guggenheim lowered their target price on First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.30.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Performance

Shares of FWRG opened at $21.21 on Tuesday. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 12-month low of $12.90 and a 12-month high of $25.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $19.15 and its 200-day moving average is $17.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.02). First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 3.61%. The company had revenue of $251.61 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $256.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.09 EPS. First Watch Restaurant Group’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Advent Partners Gpe Viii Limit sold 8,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.76, for a total value of $158,080,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,189,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,190,131.84. This trade represents a 29.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Watch Restaurant Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 505.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 172,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,690,000 after buying an additional 144,014 shares during the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in First Watch Restaurant Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,757,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 769,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,008,000 after acquiring an additional 91,416 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,986,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,988,000 after acquiring an additional 366,227 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 625,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,758,000 after purchasing an additional 54,282 shares in the last quarter. 96.11% of the stock is 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.