First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWRG)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $15.85, but opened at $17.53. First Watch Restaurant Group shares last traded at $17.27, with a volume of 407,433 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. 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. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of First Watch Restaurant Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. 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 given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.09.

First Watch Restaurant Group Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 298.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.05.

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $316.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $308.31 million. First Watch Restaurant Group had a return on equity of 0.69% and a net margin of 0.37%. First Watch Restaurant Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at First Watch Restaurant Group

In other First Watch Restaurant Group news, major shareholder International L.P. Advent sold 4,400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.67, for a total transaction of $77,748,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 5,289,784 shares in the company, valued at $93,470,483.28. This represents a 45.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 6.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Watch Restaurant Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in First Watch Restaurant Group by 8,815.8% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,675 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 207.6% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 1,316 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 61.9% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 1,673 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming increased its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 83.0% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 5,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 2,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group by 435.5% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 5,918 shares in the last quarter. 96.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.