Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Given “Overweight” Rating at Stephens

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by Stephens in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $468.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock. Stephens’ price target indicates a potential upside of 64.67% from the stock’s previous close.

WING has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $390.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. BTIG Research raised Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup increased their target price on Wingstop from $417.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $458.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $470.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.74.

Wingstop Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ WING opened at $284.20 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $319.48 and its 200-day moving average is $367.38. The firm has a market cap of $8.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.78. Wingstop has a 1-year low of $241.78 and a 1-year high of $433.86.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.09). Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 22.69% and a net margin of 17.05%. The firm had revenue of $162.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.69 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Wingstop will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.38, for a total transaction of $86,285.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,285.08. This trade represents a 50.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wingstop

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new stake in Wingstop during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wingstop during the second quarter worth $34,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Wingstop during the third quarter worth $36,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in Wingstop by 60.6% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 106 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Wingstop by 384.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 126 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring 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.