First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) Receives Consensus Rating of "Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) has received a consensus rating of "Buy" from nine research firms, with an average price target of $20.82.
• The company's stock recently opened at $17.29, with a market cap of $1.05 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 101.71.
• In the latest quarter, First Watch reported a loss of ($0.01) earnings per share, missing consensus estimates, but revenue increased by 16.4% year-over-year.

Shares of First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Buy" by the nine ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.82.

A number of research firms have recently commented on FWRG. Stephens cut their price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $17.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Benchmark dropped their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $26.00 to $22.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:FWRG traded down $0.51 during trading on Friday, reaching $16.78. 1,157,759 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 628,627. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $16.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.78. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 52-week low of $12.90 and a 52-week high of $22.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 98.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.91.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.04 by ($0.05). First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 1.03% and a return on equity of 1.84%. The firm had revenue of $282.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $282.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.12 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Watch Restaurant Group news, major shareholder International L.P. Advent sold 4,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.70, for a total value of $66,150,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 14,689,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $215,939,824.80. This trade represents a 23.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FWRG. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 59.0% during the 4th quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,582,303 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,057,000 after buying an additional 958,417 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,398,180 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,930,000 after buying an additional 46,566 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,141,209 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,848,000 after buying an additional 154,784 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group in the 4th quarter valued at $39,095,000. Finally, 12 West Capital Management LP increased its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. 12 West Capital Management LP now owns 2,013,406 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,469,000 after acquiring an additional 337,920 shares during the last quarter. 96.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.