Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Loop Capital

Loop Capital initiated coverage on shares of Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) in a research note published on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $317.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on WING. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Wingstop from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Wingstop from $400.00 to $365.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $320.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Wingstop from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wingstop currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $340.64.

Wingstop Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:WING opened at $274.00 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $248.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $279.94. The company has a market cap of $7.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.77. Wingstop has a 12 month low of $204.00 and a 12 month high of $388.14.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $175.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.10 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 25.51%.Wingstop’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Wingstop will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 21st. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.54%.

Insider Transactions at Wingstop

In related news, Director Kilandigalu Madati sold 269 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.97, for a total transaction of $69,931.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,373,421.51. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wingstop

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Freedom Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wingstop by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $462,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Wingstop by 16.8% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 223 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 22.3% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 181 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 2.9% in the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,165 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wingstop by 0.5% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 6,569 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,212,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter.

About Wingstop

Wingstop Inc (NASDAQ: WING) is a fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in chicken wings and related menu items. Founded in 1994 in Garland, Texas, the company has built its brand around bold, chef-inspired wing flavors and a streamlined service model that caters to dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering orders.

The company’s core offerings include both bone-in and boneless chicken wings tossed in a variety of proprietary rubs and sauces, such as Original Hot, Lemon Pepper, and Mango Habanero.