Critical Contrast: First Watch Restaurant Group (FWRG) vs. Its Peers

First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) is one of 383 public companies in the “Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure” industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare First Watch Restaurant Group to related companies based on the strength of its valuation, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk and institutional ownership.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares First Watch Restaurant Group and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Watch Restaurant Group	$1.22 billion	$19.43 million	40.44
First Watch Restaurant Group Competitors	$3.42 billion	$250.18 million	-161.20

First Watch Restaurant Group’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than First Watch Restaurant Group. First Watch Restaurant Group is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

96.1% of First Watch Restaurant Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.6% of shares of all “Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure” companies are held by institutional investors. 6.1% of First Watch Restaurant Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 22.0% of shares of all “Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

First Watch Restaurant Group has a beta of 1, indicating that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, First Watch Restaurant Group’s competitors have a beta of 1.44, indicating that their average stock price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares First Watch Restaurant Group and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Watch Restaurant Group	1.45%	3.10%	1.09%
First Watch Restaurant Group Competitors	8.51%	-42.06%	2.05%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for First Watch Restaurant Group and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Watch Restaurant Group	0	2	8	2	3.00
First Watch Restaurant Group Competitors	3835	17322	25640	908	2.50

First Watch Restaurant Group presently has a consensus target price of $18.00, indicating a potential upside of 39.10%. As a group, “Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure” companies have a potential upside of 53.33%. Given First Watch Restaurant Group’s competitors higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe First Watch Restaurant Group has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Summary

First Watch Restaurant Group competitors beat First Watch Restaurant Group on 7 of the 13 factors compared.

About First Watch Restaurant Group

First Watch Restaurant Group operates restaurants specializing in breakfast, brunch and lunch. Its First Watch restaurants serve made-to-order meals, including eggs, pancakes, sandwiches, salads and other daytime fare, with an emphasis on fresh ingredients. The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Bradenton, Florida. It has expanded its restaurant operations across the United States and became a publicly traded company in 2021. First Watch is led by President and Chief Executive Officer Chris Tomasso.