First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) Receives $22.27 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.45.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $21.00 target price (down from $24.00) on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $21.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. TD Cowen upgraded First Watch Restaurant Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, TD Securities upgraded First Watch Restaurant Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Tuesday.

First Watch Restaurant Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FWRG opened at $18.42 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $19.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.23. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 1-year low of $12.90 and a 1-year high of $25.98. 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 company has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 55.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.91.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.01). First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 3.61%. The firm had revenue of $263.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $262.82 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of First Watch Restaurant Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in 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 valued at $48,057,000 after purchasing an additional 958,417 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 479,741 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,141,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,848,000 after acquiring an additional 154,784 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the 4th quarter worth about $39,095,000. Finally, 12 West Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. 12 West Capital Management LP now owns 2,013,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,469,000 after purchasing an additional 337,920 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.11% of the company’s stock.

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.