First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) Upgraded at TD Cowen

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) was upgraded by analysts at TD Cowen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $22.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen’s target price suggests a potential upside of 32.13% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $21.00 price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. TD Securities raised First Watch Restaurant Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America boosted their price objective 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 reissued a “buy” rating on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $21.00 target price (down previously from $24.00) on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $22.45.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Performance

Shares of First Watch Restaurant Group stock opened at $16.65 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. First Watch Restaurant Group has a twelve month low of $12.90 and a twelve month high of $25.98. The company’s fifty day moving average is $19.34 and its 200 day moving average is $18.21.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.01 EPS 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 company had revenue of $263.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $262.82 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.04 earnings per share. The business’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 at First Watch Restaurant Group

In related news, CEO Christopher Anthony Tomasso sold 42,039 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 389,832 shares in the company, valued at $6,553,075.92. The trade was 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 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 $96,539.83. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $634,880.08. The trade was a 13.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Watch Restaurant Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group during the 4th quarter valued at $51,000. State of Wyoming boosted its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 212.6% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 3,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 2,186 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group in the 4th quarter worth $81,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $86,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.11% of the company’s stock.

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.