First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) Upgraded by Freedom Capital to “Strong-Buy” Rating

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) was upgraded by investment analysts at Freedom Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $14.00 target price on First Watch Restaurant Group in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.27.

First Watch Restaurant Group Price Performance

Shares of FWRG stock opened at $13.09 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 12-month low of $9.97 and a 12-month high of $19.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $11.78 and a 200-day moving average of $13.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $807.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.90 and a beta of 1.03.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.02). The business 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 for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.01) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Watch Restaurant Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 96.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,957,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,477,000 after buying an additional 1,946,084 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 81.4% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,357,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,191,000 after acquiring an additional 1,507,074 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,320,929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,080,000 after acquiring an additional 432,634 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 19.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,084,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,328,000 after acquiring an additional 508,704 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,281,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,589,000 after acquiring an additional 269,726 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.11% of the company’s stock.

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.