First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) from a sell rating to a strong sell rating in a research note published on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $14.00 price target on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Benchmark lowered their price objective on First Watch Restaurant Group from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded First Watch Restaurant Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Watch Restaurant Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.78.

First Watch Restaurant Group Price Performance

FWRG opened at $12.23 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.07. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $753.98 million, a P/E ratio of 43.68, a P/E/G ratio of 6.55 and a beta of 1.03. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 52-week low of $9.97 and a 52-week high of $19.53.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $330.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.01) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.19 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of First Watch Restaurant Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in First Watch Restaurant Group in the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in First Watch Restaurant Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 61.9% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 17,042.4% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 5,624 shares during the last quarter. 96.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.