Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Stock Price Down 5.6% – What’s Next?

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)’s share price was down 5.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $303.71 and last traded at $304.90. Approximately 313,632 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 32% from the average daily volume of 459,072 shares. The stock had previously closed at $322.89.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $458.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $390.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. 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. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.74.

Wingstop Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $346.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $377.23. The firm has a market cap of $8.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.78.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.09). Wingstop had a net margin of 17.05% and a negative return on equity of 22.69%. The business had revenue of $162.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.49%.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new position in Wingstop during the first quarter worth about $307,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Wingstop by 177.0% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,917 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,078,000 after purchasing an additional 3,142 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Wingstop by 14.3% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $970,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Wingstop in the second quarter worth $6,354,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wingstop by 112.9% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,150 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $909,000 after purchasing an additional 1,140 shares in 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.