Stephens Reiterates Overweight Rating for First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG)

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by analysts at Stephens in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens’ target price suggests a potential upside of 46.88% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on FWRG. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Bank of America raised their target price on First Watch Restaurant Group from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $21.00 target price (down from $24.00) on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $21.00 target price on First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Watch Restaurant Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.27.

First Watch Restaurant Group Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FWRG opened at $16.34 on Thursday. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 52-week low of $12.90 and a 52-week high of $25.98. The stock has a market cap of $991.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.52, a PEG 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. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $19.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.10.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at First Watch Restaurant Group

In other news, insider Jay Anthony Wolszczak sold 5,743 shares of First Watch Restaurant Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total value of $96,539.83. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $634,880.08. The trade was a 13.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Christopher Anthony Tomasso sold 42,039 shares of First Watch Restaurant Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.81, for a total value of $706,675.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 389,832 shares in the company, valued at $6,553,075.92. This represents a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Watch Restaurant Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 1.1% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 49,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $770,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 17,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 68.7% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 21,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 1,033 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 78,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,463,000 after buying an additional 2,033 shares in the last quarter. 96.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.