First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) Shares Up 6.5% on Analyst Upgrade

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) traded up 6.5% on Wednesday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $27.00 to $28.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. First Watch Restaurant Group traded as high as $17.83 and last traded at $17.92. 223,686 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 550,294 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.83.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Tuesday. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.45.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Watch Restaurant Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 59.0% during the 4th quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,582,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,057,000 after acquiring an additional 958,417 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,351,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,764,000 after acquiring an additional 479,741 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,141,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,848,000 after acquiring an additional 154,784 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,095,000. Finally, 12 West Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. 12 West Capital Management LP now owns 2,013,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,469,000 after buying an additional 337,920 shares in the last quarter. 96.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.90.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last posted 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). The firm had revenue of $263.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $262.82 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a return on equity of 3.61% and a net margin of 2.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.04 EPS. Analysts forecast that First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Watch Restaurant Group Company Profile

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.