First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) Given Average Recommendation of "Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• First Watch Restaurant Group has received an average recommendation of "Buy" from ten research firms, with a 1-year price target of approximately $21.09.
• Recent insider activity includes a major shareholder selling 5 million shares for $88,500,000, decreasing their ownership by 34.04%.
• The company reported a net margin of 0.37% and revenue of $307.89 million for the last quarter, marking a 19.1% increase year-over-year.

Shares of First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Buy" by the ten research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $21.0909.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Wednesday, June 4th.

Insider Transactions at First Watch Restaurant Group

In other First Watch Restaurant Group news, major shareholder International L.P. Advent sold 5,000,000 shares of First Watch Restaurant Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.70, for a total value of $88,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,689,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $171,509,176.80. The trade was a 34.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 217.9% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 86,637 shares of the company's stock worth $1,390,000 after buying an additional 59,381 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 435.5% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,277 shares of the company's stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 5,918 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $545,000. Manatuck Hill Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,208,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 13.4% during the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,281,137 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,589,000 after purchasing an additional 269,726 shares during the last quarter. 96.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Watch Restaurant Group Trading Down 3.7%

Shares of NASDAQ FWRG opened at $15.94 on Friday. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 1 year low of $12.90 and a 1 year high of $22.71. The stock has a market cap of $972.66 million, a P/E ratio of 265.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $17.66 and a 200 day moving average of $17.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.04). First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 0.37% and a return on equity of 0.69%. The business had revenue of $307.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $304.94 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.14 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 19.1% on a year-over-year basis. First Watch Restaurant Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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