First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $18.7778.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on FWRG. Benchmark decreased their price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded First Watch Restaurant Group from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut First Watch Restaurant Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Watch Restaurant Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 96.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,957,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,477,000 after buying an additional 1,946,084 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 81.4% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,357,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,191,000 after acquiring an additional 1,507,074 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,320,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,080,000 after acquiring an additional 432,634 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 19.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,084,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,328,000 after acquiring an additional 508,704 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,281,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,589,000 after acquiring an additional 269,726 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.11% of the company’s stock.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FWRG opened at $12.42 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $765.69 million, a P/E ratio of 44.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.25 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.05. First Watch Restaurant Group has a twelve month low of $9.97 and a twelve month high of $19.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.02). First Watch Restaurant Group had a return on equity of 2.85% and a net margin of 1.38%.The company had revenue of $330.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $329.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.01) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.2 EPS for the current year.

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.