Brokerages Set First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) Target Price at $18.56

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $18.5556.

FWRG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, August 28th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Freedom Capital raised shares of First Watch Restaurant Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Watch Restaurant Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royce & Associates LP acquired a new stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,006,000. Riverbridge Partners LLC boosted its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 90.8% during the first quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC now owns 2,091,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,921,000 after buying an additional 995,671 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its stake in First Watch Restaurant Group by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,367,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,615,000 after buying an additional 434,987 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in First Watch Restaurant Group by 76.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,052,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,029,000 after buying an additional 456,976 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $58,445,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.11% of the company’s stock.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Down 8.2%

FWRG opened at $11.28 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $12.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $696.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.90, a PEG ratio of 20.48 and a beta of 1.03. First Watch Restaurant Group has a fifty-two week low of $9.97 and a fifty-two week high of $18.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.27.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $354.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $351.57 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 1.35% and a return on equity of 2.85%. First Watch Restaurant Group’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.03 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.15 earnings per share for the current 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.