First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) Stock Rating Upgraded by TD Cowen

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) was upgraded by stock analysts at TD Cowen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $22.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen’s price target indicates a potential upside of 19.44% from the company’s previous close.

FWRG has been the subject of several other reports. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. TD Securities upgraded First Watch Restaurant Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report on Tuesday. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $21.00 price objective (down from $24.00) on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Watch Restaurant Group presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $22.45.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FWRG opened at $18.42 on Tuesday. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 1 year low of $12.90 and a 1 year high of $25.98. The firm has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.82, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $19.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.54.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $262.82 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.04 earnings per share. First Watch Restaurant Group’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at First Watch Restaurant Group

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

Institutional Trading of First Watch Restaurant Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,095,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 59.0% in the fourth quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,582,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,057,000 after buying an additional 958,417 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the 4th quarter worth $15,506,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in First Watch Restaurant Group in the 4th quarter valued at $12,732,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 25.6% in 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.11% of the company’s stock.

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.