First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) Raised to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Sunday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on First Watch Restaurant Group from $26.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Barclays lowered their target price on First Watch Restaurant Group from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Benchmark dropped their target price on First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Watch Restaurant Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.27.

First Watch Restaurant Group Price Performance

FWRG opened at $11.81 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $728.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.18, a PEG ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $11.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.70. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $330.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $329.35 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a return on equity of 2.85% and a net margin of 1.38%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.01) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Watch Restaurant Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 96.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,946,084 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 81.4% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,357,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,191,000 after buying an additional 1,507,074 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in First Watch Restaurant Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $20,318,000. Riverbridge Partners LLC grew its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 90.8% during the 1st quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC now owns 2,091,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,921,000 after buying an additional 995,671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 113.7% in the 1st quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,481,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,529,000 after acquiring an additional 788,436 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.11% of the company’s stock.

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.