First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) Trading Up 7.3% – Should You Buy?

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG)’s share price was up 7.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $11.01 and last traded at $11.01. Approximately 298,569 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 1,600,757 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.26.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FWRG shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $14.00 price objective on First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Zacks Research raised First Watch Restaurant Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Weiss Ratings lowered First Watch Restaurant Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Barclays decreased their price objective on First Watch Restaurant Group from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised First Watch Restaurant Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Watch Restaurant Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.27.

First Watch Restaurant Group Trading Up 6.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $671.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.35 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $11.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.00.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $330.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $329.35 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a return on equity of 2.85% and a net margin of 1.38%.The business’s revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.01) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. will post 0.2 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO H Melville Hope III sold 3,878 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total value of $48,552.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 111,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,399,573.24. This trade represents a 3.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jay Anthony Wolszczak sold 3,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total value of $39,575.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 228,930 shares in the company, valued at $2,866,203.60. This trade represents a 1.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,255 shares of company stock valued at $478,953. 6.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Watch Restaurant Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FWRG. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 96.7% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,957,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,946,084 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 81.4% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,357,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,191,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507,074 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the third quarter worth $20,318,000. Riverbridge Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 995,671 shares during the period. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 113.7% in the first quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,481,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,529,000 after acquiring an additional 788,436 shares during the period. 96.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Watch Restaurant Group Company Profile

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.