First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) Trading Down 8.5% After Earnings Miss

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) shares dropped 8.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as low as $17.17 and last traded at $16.57. Approximately 98,621 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 635,247 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.10.

The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $263.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $262.82 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 3.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.04 earnings per share.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on First Watch Restaurant Group from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in First Watch Restaurant Group during the fourth quarter worth about $39,095,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 59.0% during the 4th quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,582,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,057,000 after purchasing an additional 958,417 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $15,506,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $12,732,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,351,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,764,000 after buying an additional 479,741 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.11% of the company’s stock.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Down 9.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.14. The company has a market cap of $991.53 million, a PE ratio of 49.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.90.

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.