First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) Receives $23.30 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $23.30.

FWRG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on First Watch Restaurant Group from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of 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.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Down 1.0 %

FWRG opened at $18.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.51. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 12 month low of $12.90 and a 12 month high of $25.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $16.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.92. The stock has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.00, a P/E/G ratio of 5.35 and a beta of 0.85.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $251.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $256.17 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 3.61%. First Watch Restaurant Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Advent Partners Gpe Viii Limit sold 8,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.76, for a total value of $158,080,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,189,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,190,131.84. This represents a 29.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Watch Restaurant Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FWRG. Rocky Mountain Advisers LLC grew its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 180.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rocky Mountain Advisers LLC now owns 6,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 4,250 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the first quarter worth approximately $172,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in First Watch Restaurant Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $119,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new position in First Watch Restaurant Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $157,000. 96.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.