Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Melius

Melius initiated coverage on shares of Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm set a "hold" rating and a $350.00 price target on the restaurant operator's stock. Melius' target price suggests a potential upside of 11.86% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $385.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Citigroup lowered shares of Wingstop from a "neutral" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Wingstop from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Wingstop to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Westpark Capital upgraded shares of Wingstop to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $358.16.

Wingstop Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WING traded down $5.37 on Monday, hitting $312.91. The stock had a trading volume of 207,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 655,937. The stock has a market cap of $8.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 1.84. Wingstop has a 1 year low of $204.00 and a 1 year high of $433.86. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $332.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $281.59.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $171.09 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.25 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 26.45% and a negative return on equity of 18.85%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Wingstop will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,000 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.34, for a total transaction of $3,373,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 47,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,919,074.60. The trade was a 17.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 637 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.07, for a total transaction of $173,945.59. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 517 shares of the company's stock, valued at $141,177.19. This represents a 55.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Wingstop

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in Wingstop by 2.9% during the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,165 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Wingstop by 22.3% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 181 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Wingstop by 0.5% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 6,569 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,212,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Wingstop by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 795 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter.

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.