Wingstop’s (WING) “Overweight” Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $468.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on WING. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BTIG Research upgraded Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup increased their price target on Wingstop from $417.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $390.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wingstop currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.74.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WING opened at $298.01 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $316.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $365.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.81. Wingstop has a 1 year low of $241.78 and a 1 year high of $433.86.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $162.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.24 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 17.05% and a negative return on equity of 22.69%. Wingstop’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Wingstop will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Wingstop’s payout ratio is presently 31.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wingstop news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.38, for a total value of $86,285.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,285.08. This trade represents a 50.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WING. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new position in Wingstop in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Wingstop in the second quarter worth $34,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Wingstop in the third quarter valued at $36,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in Wingstop by 60.6% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 106 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Wingstop by 384.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 126 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter.

About Wingstop

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.