FY2025 EPS Estimates for Wingstop Increased by William Blair

Key Points

• William Blair has raised its FY2025 earnings per share estimate for Wingstop to $3.92, up from $3.88, maintaining an "Outperform" rating on the stock.
• Wingstop's recent quarterly earnings topped analyst expectations, reporting $1.00 EPS against a consensus of $0.88, with revenues rising 12.0% year-over-year to $174.33 million.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.30, which will be paid to shareholders on September 5th, up from the previous dividend of $0.27.

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) - Equities researchers at William Blair upped their FY2025 earnings estimates for shares of Wingstop in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, July 30th. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia now forecasts that the restaurant operator will post earnings per share of $3.92 for the year, up from their prior forecast of $3.88. William Blair has a "Outperform" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Wingstop's current full-year earnings is $4.18 per share.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on WING. Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $325.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $410.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "overweight" rating for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $280.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wingstop presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $379.52.

Wingstop Stock Down 2.9%

Wingstop stock traded down $10.10 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $338.57. 697,717 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 839,228. Wingstop has a 12 month low of $204.00 and a 12 month high of $433.86. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $341.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $286.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.98, a PEG ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 1.84.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.12. Wingstop had a net margin of 25.61% and a negative return on equity of 17.07%. The business had revenue of $174.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WING. Freedom Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Wingstop by 2.2% in the second quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,371 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $462,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 16.8% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 223 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Wingstop by 22.3% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 181 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in Wingstop by 2.9% in the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,165 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Wingstop by 0.5% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 6,569 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,212,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at Wingstop

In related news, CFO Alex Kaleida sold 5,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.09, for a total value of $2,030,886.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,144,864.58. The trade was a 39.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.34, for a total value of $1,666,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 42,777 shares in the company, valued at $15,842,034.18. This represents a 9.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,838 shares of company stock worth $11,491,935 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This is a positive change from Wingstop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.00%.

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.