First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) Raised to Buy at TD Cowen

TD Cowen upgraded shares of First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $22.00 price objective on the stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $21.00 price target (down previously from $24.00) on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. TD Securities raised First Watch Restaurant Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America increased their price target on First Watch Restaurant Group from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Watch Restaurant Group has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $22.45.

First Watch Restaurant Group Price Performance

Shares of FWRG opened at $17.18 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 52.06, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.91. First Watch Restaurant Group has a twelve month low of $12.90 and a twelve month high of $25.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.23.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $263.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $262.82 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 3.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.04 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Christopher Anthony Tomasso sold 42,039 shares of First Watch Restaurant Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total transaction of $706,675.59. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 389,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,553,075.92. This trade represents a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jay Anthony Wolszczak sold 5,743 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total value of $96,539.83. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,768 shares in the company, valued at $634,880.08. This represents a 13.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FWRG. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the 4th quarter valued at $39,095,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 59.0% in the fourth quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,582,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,057,000 after acquiring an additional 958,417 shares during the period. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $15,506,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in First Watch Restaurant Group in the fourth quarter worth about $12,732,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,351,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,764,000 after purchasing an additional 479,741 shares during the period. 96.11% of the stock is 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.