First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) Trading 4.7% Higher – Still a Buy?

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) shares shot up 4.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $15.70 and last traded at $15.68. 206,010 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 573,906 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.97.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FWRG. Barclays dropped their price target on First Watch Restaurant Group from $27.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on First Watch Restaurant Group from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.33.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 44.47, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $15.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.94.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $258.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $257.65 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a return on equity of 4.24% and a net margin of 2.51%. First Watch Restaurant Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.13 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. will post 0.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of First Watch Restaurant Group

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $65,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $119,000. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 28.6% in the second quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 9,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Finally, LVW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $227,000. 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.