Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Shares Down 3.8% – Time to Sell?

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)’s stock price traded down 3.8% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $154.36 and last traded at $156.5060. 102,610 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 1,138,266 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.73.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a report on Thursday, May 28th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a report on Monday, April 20th. Truist Financial set a $374.00 price target on shares of Wingstop and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Wingstop from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Monday, March 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $268.70.

Wingstop Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a PE ratio of 39.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.82. The business has a 50-day moving average of $157.12 and a 200 day moving average of $211.36.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $183.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $187.82 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 15.77%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Wingstop by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,111,089 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $503,475,000 after purchasing an additional 58,386 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Wingstop during the third quarter valued at $375,317,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Wingstop by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,405,894 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $335,292,000 after purchasing an additional 456,861 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Wingstop by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,173,613 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $279,895,000 after purchasing an additional 70,224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steadfast Capital Management LP raised its stake in Wingstop by 296.2% during the third quarter. Steadfast Capital Management LP now owns 950,521 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $239,227,000 after purchasing an additional 710,621 shares in 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.