Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $420.00 to $460.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Wingstop traded as high as $423.00 and last traded at $422.82, with a volume of 56582 shares. The stock had previously closed at $417.38.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on WING. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Wingstop from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Wingstop from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $398.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Wingstop from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $343.37.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kilandigalu Madati sold 645 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $395.74, for a total transaction of $255,252.30. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,147 shares in the company, valued at $2,036,873.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Ania Smith sold 566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.91, for a total value of $215,595.06. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,164 shares in the company, valued at $443,379.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kilandigalu Madati sold 645 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $395.74, for a total transaction of $255,252.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,036,873.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,191 shares of company stock worth $2,443,547 over the last 90 days. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 11,380 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,920,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 263 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 2,319 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $595,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 53.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 115 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in Wingstop by 0.5% in the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 13,150 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,365,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period.

Wingstop Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $12.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 152.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.71. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $383.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $330.15.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.22. Wingstop had a net margin of 16.75% and a negative return on equity of 19.64%. The business had revenue of $145.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $136.34 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 34.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.21%. Wingstop’s payout ratio is presently 31.32%.

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.