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

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $19.2727.

FWRG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $14.00 target price on First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen raised First Watch Restaurant Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday. Citigroup lowered their target price on First Watch Restaurant Group from $26.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Benchmark lowered their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th.

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. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 1.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 45,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $730,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 46,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $695,000 after acquiring an additional 832 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 4.2% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 23,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $360,000 after acquiring an additional 934 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 4.7% in the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS grew its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 0.5% in the first quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 310,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,258,000 after acquiring an additional 1,450 shares in the last quarter. 96.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Watch Restaurant Group Price Performance

NASDAQ FWRG opened at $11.81 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $11.69 and its 200-day moving average is $13.67. The company has a market capitalization of $728.09 million, a PE ratio of 42.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 1.06. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 12-month low of $9.97 and a 12-month high of $19.53.

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