Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $382.00.

WING has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays increased their target price on Wingstop from $418.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $475.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Wingstop from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Wingstop from $417.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WING opened at $373.56 on Friday. Wingstop has a one year low of $173.74 and a one year high of $433.86. The company has a market cap of $10.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 132.94, a PEG ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.71. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $396.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $388.28.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.11. Wingstop had a net margin of 17.33% and a negative return on equity of 21.18%. The company had revenue of $155.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $146.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Wingstop will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This is a positive change from Wingstop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wingstop

In other news, SVP Donnie Upshaw sold 3,199 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $372.71, for a total transaction of $1,192,299.29. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 97 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,152.87. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wingstop

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new stake in Wingstop in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wingstop during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in Wingstop by 60.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 93 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Wingstop by 53.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 115 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 40 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.