Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) Receives $368.74 Average PT from Analysts

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $368.74.

Several research analysts have commented on WING shares. Northcoast Research raised Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $468.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $417.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Benchmark upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $340.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wingstop news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.38, for a total value of $86,285.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 266 shares in the company, valued at $86,285.08. The trade was a 50.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Wingstop

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Whittier Trust Co. increased its position in Wingstop by 4.4% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 25,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,743,000 after buying an additional 1,072 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in Wingstop by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 12,918 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,460,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. lifted its position in Wingstop by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Burney Co. now owns 4,515 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,908,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Wingstop by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 6,266 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,648,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Wingstop in the 2nd quarter worth about $230,000.

Wingstop Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WING opened at $285.37 on Wednesday. Wingstop has a 1 year low of $241.78 and a 1 year high of $433.86. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $324.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $370.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.20, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.78.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last released 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 negative return on equity of 22.69% and a net margin of 17.05%. The business had revenue of $162.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. Wingstop’s quarterly revenue was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Wingstop will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Wingstop’s payout ratio is 31.49%.

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.