First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) Price Target Cut to $21.00 by Analysts at Stephens

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) had its target price decreased by Stephens from $24.00 to $21.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded First Watch Restaurant Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.08.

First Watch Restaurant Group Price Performance

First Watch Restaurant Group stock opened at $12.52 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.25. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 52 week low of $12.16 and a 52 week high of $21.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $764.10 million, a P/E ratio of 40.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $15.98 and a 200-day moving average of $16.79.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.16. First Watch Restaurant Group had a return on equity of 3.23% and a net margin of 1.59%.The business had revenue of $316.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $317.49 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.01 earnings per share. First Watch Restaurant Group’s revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at First Watch Restaurant Group

In other news, Director William A. Kussell sold 6,165 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.00, for a total transaction of $104,805.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 26,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $448,834. This trade represents a 18.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Watch Restaurant Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FWRG. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 67.3% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 54,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $903,000 after purchasing an additional 21,830 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 31.8% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 22,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 5,497 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 76.1% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 9,920 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the second quarter worth about $6,173,000. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 12.2% in the second quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 76,861 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,233,000 after acquiring an additional 8,358 shares during the period. 96.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about First Watch Restaurant Group

Here are the key news stories impacting First Watch Restaurant Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat on the bottom line and solid top‑line growth — FWRG reported $0.24 EPS vs. a $0.08 consensus and revenue up ~20% year‑over‑year, signalling underlying demand resilience. Press Release
• Positive Sentiment: Company reiterated a growth plan for 2026, targeting ~12%–14% revenue growth and highlighting investments in digital marketing and menu innovation that could support traffic and unit-level sales over time. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts cut price targets across the board (Citigroup, Barclays, Guggenheim, Stephens, TD Cowen) but largely maintained buy/overweight ratings — reflecting reduced upside expectations rather than a wholesale loss of confidence. Benzinga TickerReport (Guggenheim)
• Neutral Sentiment: CFO Mel Hope announced a planned retirement later this year with a transition process underway; management frames this as orderly but investors will watch succession and ongoing financial execution. Press Release
• Negative Sentiment: FY2026 guidance disappointed some investors — same‑store sales growth guided to a slower 1%–3% and adjusted EBITDA margin guidance implies little operational leverage, removing a near‑term catalyst for margin expansion. Seeking Alpha highlights this as a material risk and flags valuation concerns (fair value estimated in the low teens). Seeking Alpha
• Negative Sentiment: Investor reaction included an intraday selloff after the outlook release; coupled with trimmed analyst targets, this increases short‑term downside risk given stretched prior valuation metrics cited by some analysts. Earnings Coverage

First Watch Restaurant Group Company Profile

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc (NASDAQ: FWRG) operates a specialty daytime dining concept focused on breakfast, brunch and lunch. The company’s casual, full-service cafés emphasize fresh ingredients, made-to-order entrées and a seasonally driven menu that ranges from omelets and Benedicts to salads, skillets and afternoon sandwiches. First Watch positions itself as a daytime-only destination, with most locations opening early morning and closing by mid-afternoon.

Founded in 1983 by Ken Pendery and John Sullivan in Pacific Grove, California, First Watch began as a single café and gradually expanded through company-owned and select franchised locations.