First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded First Watch Restaurant Group from “strong sell” to “sell”, but the stock still carries a generally mixed-to-bullish analyst backdrop with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $19.25.
• The company reported Q1 earnings of -$0.04 per share, missing estimates, while revenue came in at $330.96 million, slightly above expectations and up 17.3% year over year.
• Shares were trading around $11.63, well below the stock’s 52-week high of $19.53, and insiders have sold shares recently, including the CFO and CEO, while institutional investors continue to hold a large majority of the stock.

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

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on FWRG. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings cut First Watch Restaurant Group from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on First Watch Restaurant Group from $26.00 to $21.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Watch Restaurant Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $19.25.

First Watch Restaurant Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FWRG opened at $11.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $716.99 million, a PE ratio of 41.54, a P/E/G ratio of 6.10 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. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $11.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.33. First Watch Restaurant Group has a fifty-two week low of $10.09 and a fifty-two week high of $19.53.

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 the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $330.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $329.35 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 2.85%. First Watch Restaurant Group's revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.01) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at First Watch Restaurant Group

In other news, CFO H Melville Hope III sold 7,358 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.59, for a total transaction of $92,637.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 115,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,456,222.35. The trade was a 5.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher Anthony Tomasso sold 25,062 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total value of $313,776.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 957,315 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,985,583.80. This trade represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 68,013 shares of company stock worth $853,606 in the last three months. Insiders own 6.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Watch Restaurant Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 96.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,957,697 shares of the company's stock worth $41,477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,946,084 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 81.4% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,357,950 shares of the company's stock worth $35,191,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507,074 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,320,929 shares of the company's stock worth $50,080,000 after purchasing an additional 432,634 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,084,886 shares of the company's stock worth $32,328,000 after purchasing an additional 508,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,281,137 shares of the company's stock worth $36,589,000 after purchasing an additional 269,726 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.11% of the company's stock.

First Watch Restaurant Group Company Profile

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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