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

Wall Street Zen cut shares of First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Monday.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on FWRG. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Zacks Research lowered shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, First Watch Restaurant Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.09.

First Watch Restaurant Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FWRG opened at $17.06 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 284.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.23. First Watch Restaurant Group has a 1 year low of $12.90 and a 1 year high of $22.71.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $307.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $304.94 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a net margin of 0.37% and a return on equity of 0.69%. The business’s revenue was up 19.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.14 earnings per share. First Watch Restaurant Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that First Watch Restaurant Group will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder International L.P. Advent sold 5,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.70, for a total value of $88,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,689,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $171,509,176.80. This trade represents a 34.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Watch Restaurant Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FWRG. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,000 after buying an additional 2,083 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group during the 1st quarter valued at $259,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 203.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 238,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,974,000 after purchasing an additional 160,040 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 30.7% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 86,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,443,000 after acquiring an additional 20,361 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 17.8% in the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 612,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,195,000 after acquiring an additional 92,650 shares during the period. 96.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.