Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Guggenheim Analyst Says

Key Points

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Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) had its price objective upped by Guggenheim from $325.00 to $410.00 in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator's stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Wingstop from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Bank of America decreased their price target on Wingstop from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Benchmark raised their price target on Wingstop from $325.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Wingstop from $367.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Wingstop in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $280.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $379.52.

Wingstop Trading Down 3.9%

WING stock traded down $14.89 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $362.45. 1,199,950 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 770,947. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.41, a P/E/G ratio of 5.05 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $340.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $285.90. Wingstop has a 12 month low of $204.00 and a 12 month high of $433.86.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $174.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $172.60 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 25.61%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Wingstop will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a positive change from Wingstop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.09%.

Insider Transactions at Wingstop

In other news, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.34, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 9.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 637 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.07, for a total value of $173,945.59. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 517 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $141,177.19. This represents a 55.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 32,475 shares of company stock worth $11,665,881. Insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Wingstop by 36.0% during the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 36,780 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $10,453,000 after buying an additional 9,735 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital bought a new stake in Wingstop during the first quarter worth $269,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its position in Wingstop by 79.2% in the first quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 6,111 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its position in Wingstop by 66.3% in the first quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 446,601 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $100,744,000 after purchasing an additional 178,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Wingstop by 167.4% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,035 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $459,000 after purchasing an additional 1,274 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.