First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. $FWRG Shares Purchased by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) by 9.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,780,839 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 154,018 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group were worth $18,663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $64,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $66,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 61.9% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 17,042.4% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 5,624 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on FWRG shares. Weiss Ratings cut First Watch Restaurant Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Freedom Capital upgraded First Watch Restaurant Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Benchmark decreased their price objective on First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.78.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Up 0.9%

FWRG stock opened at $13.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $801.45 million, a P/E ratio of 46.43, a PEG ratio of 7.63 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.29. First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. has a one year low of $9.97 and a one year high of $19.53. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $11.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.94.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $330.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $329.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.01) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. will post 0.2 EPS for the current year.

About First Watch Restaurant Group

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.