Wedbush Weighs in on Wingstop’s Q1 Earnings (NASDAQ:WING)

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) – Analysts at Wedbush decreased their Q1 2025 earnings estimates for Wingstop in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, March 19th. Wedbush analyst N. Setyan now forecasts that the restaurant operator will earn $0.87 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.93. Wedbush has a “Outperform” rating and a $355.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Wingstop’s current full-year earnings is $4.18 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Wingstop’s Q2 2025 earnings at $0.85 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $3.71 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $1.07 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $1.06 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.20 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.25 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $4.62 EPS.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on WING. Barclays lowered their target price on Wingstop from $359.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price objective (down from $375.00) on shares of Wingstop in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Wingstop from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Benchmark cut their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $340.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $357.67.

Wingstop Stock Down 2.1 %

WING opened at $215.46 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $262.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $318.12. The stock has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.88. Wingstop has a 12 month low of $205.60 and a 12 month high of $433.86.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WING. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Wingstop in the fourth quarter worth $10,177,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 277.5% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,771 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,356,000 after acquiring an additional 3,507 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its position in Wingstop by 779.1% during the 4th quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 18,461 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,247,000 after purchasing an additional 16,361 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Wingstop by 475.0% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 69,234 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $19,676,000 after purchasing an additional 57,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Conway Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Wingstop in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,544,000.

Wingstop announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 buy up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Wingstop’s payout ratio is 29.11%.

Wingstop Company Profile

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.