Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $368.74.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research raised shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Wingstop from $375.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $458.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $468.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Wingstop from $417.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th.

Insider Activity at Wingstop

In related news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.38, for a total value of $86,285.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 266 shares in the company, valued at $86,285.08. This trade represents a 50.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Wingstop

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WING. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Wingstop by 0.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 816,991 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $326,020,000 after acquiring an additional 7,204 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Wingstop by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 758 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 1,490 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $620,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc lifted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 44.0% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 18,239 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,589,000 after purchasing an additional 5,572 shares during the period. Finally, Conway Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Wingstop during the third quarter worth about $3,544,000.

Wingstop Stock Down 1.9 %

WING stock opened at $285.37 on Wednesday. Wingstop has a 52-week low of $241.78 and a 52-week high of $433.86. The stock has a market cap of $8.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.78. The business has a fifty day moving average of $324.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $369.90.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.09). Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 22.69% and a net margin of 17.05%. The business had revenue of $162.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wingstop will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Wingstop’s payout ratio is currently 31.49%.

Wingstop Company Profile

Wingstop Inc, together with its subsidiaries, franchises and operates restaurants under the Wingstop brand. Its restaurants offer classic wings, boneless wings, tenders, and hand-sauced-and-tossed in various flavors, as well as chicken sandwiches with fries and hand-cut carrots and celery that are cooked-to-order.