Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Upgraded to “Buy” at Northcoast Research

Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $350.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Wingstop from $353.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Wingstop from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Wingstop from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Wingstop from $407.00 to $458.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Wingstop from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wingstop presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.63.

Wingstop Price Performance

NASDAQ:WING opened at $297.18 on Friday. Wingstop has a 1-year low of $204.01 and a 1-year high of $433.86. The company has a 50-day moving average of $388.10 and a 200 day moving average of $387.45. The firm has a market cap of $8.68 billion, a PE ratio of 87.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.76.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.09). Wingstop had a net margin of 17.05% and a negative return on equity of 22.69%. The company had revenue of $162.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.69 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Wingstop will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wingstop news, SVP Donnie Upshaw sold 3,199 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $372.71, for a total value of $1,192,299.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 97 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,152.87. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Wingstop in the 1st quarter valued at $370,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Wingstop during the 1st quarter worth $4,840,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Wingstop by 1,308.1% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 24,951 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $9,142,000 after buying an additional 23,179 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Wingstop during the 1st quarter worth $144,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in Wingstop by 276.9% during the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 980 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 720 shares during the period.

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.