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 thirty-two brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation, twenty-four have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $260.8889.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WING. Benchmark reduced their price target on Wingstop from $320.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a report on Thursday, June 4th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Wingstop from $325.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a report on Thursday, June 4th.

Institutional Trading of Wingstop

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Wingstop by 54.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 255,732 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $39,631,000 after buying an additional 89,915 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Wingstop during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,977,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Wingstop by 18.3% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 798,616 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $123,761,000 after acquiring an additional 123,315 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Wingstop by 22.2% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 32,353 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,014,000 after acquiring an additional 5,879 shares during the period. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the first quarter worth approximately $1,999,000.

Wingstop Stock Performance

Shares of Wingstop stock opened at $177.99 on Friday. Wingstop has a 52-week low of $116.35 and a 52-week high of $381.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a fifty day moving average of $152.24 and a 200-day moving average of $203.55.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last issued 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 $183.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $187.82 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 15.77% and a negative return on equity of 16.22%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Wingstop will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.85%.

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.