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

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

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. TD Cowen boosted their target price on 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. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on First Watch Restaurant Group from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.30.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FWRG opened at $21.21 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 1 year low of $12.90 and a 1 year high of $25.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $19.15 and a 200-day moving average of $17.25.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $251.61 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $256.17 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.09 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.76, for a total transaction of $158,080,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,189,784 shares in the company, valued at $379,190,131.84. This represents a 29.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FWRG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 366,227 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 14.4% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,533,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,919,000 after purchasing an additional 192,471 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 15.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,385,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,338,000 after acquiring an additional 189,740 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,114,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,022,000 after purchasing an additional 136,871 shares during the period. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 44.2% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 947,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,552,000 after acquiring an additional 290,173 shares in the last quarter. 96.11% of the stock is currently 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.