First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded First Watch Restaurant Group from hold to strong sell, even as the broader analyst view remains Moderate Buy with an average target price of $19.25.
• The company reported Q1 earnings of -$0.04 per share, missing estimates, while revenue of $330.96 million slightly beat expectations and rose 17.3% year over year.
• Shares traded around $12.10, near the low end of their 52-week range, and insiders including the CFO and CEO sold shares in March, adding to recent selling activity.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on FWRG. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Benchmark cut their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research raised shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $26.00 to $21.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $19.25.

First Watch Restaurant Group Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of FWRG opened at $12.10 on Friday. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 1-year low of $10.09 and a 1-year high of $19.53. The company has a 50-day moving average of $12.04 and a 200 day moving average of $15.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $745.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.22, a PEG ratio of 6.23 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.25.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $330.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $329.35 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 2.85%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.01) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at First Watch Restaurant Group

In other First Watch Restaurant Group news, CFO H Melville Hope III sold 3,878 shares of First Watch Restaurant Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total transaction of $48,552.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 111,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,399,573.24. The trade was a 3.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Christopher Anthony Tomasso sold 25,062 shares of First Watch Restaurant Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total value of $313,776.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 957,315 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,985,583.80. This represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 68,013 shares of company stock worth $853,606 in the last quarter. 6.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Watch Restaurant Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the 4th quarter valued at $64,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the 4th quarter valued at $66,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 61.9% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,375 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 1,673 shares during the last quarter. 96.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About First Watch Restaurant Group

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc NASDAQ: FWRG operates a specialty daytime dining concept focused on breakfast, brunch and lunch. The company's casual, full-service cafés emphasize fresh ingredients, made-to-order entrées and a seasonally driven menu that ranges from omelets and Benedicts to salads, skillets and afternoon sandwiches. First Watch positions itself as a daytime-only destination, with most locations opening early morning and closing by mid-afternoon.

Founded in 1983 by Ken Pendery and John Sullivan in Pacific Grove, California, First Watch began as a single café and gradually expanded through company-owned and select franchised locations.

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