Morgan Stanley Boosts Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Price Target to $315.00

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $280.00 to $315.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the restaurant operator's stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on WING. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $235.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. They issued an outperform rating and a $340.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Wingstop from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Wingstop in a report on Friday. They issued an overweight rating and a $425.00 price objective on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $271.83.

Wingstop Price Performance

WING traded down $1.80 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $365.15. 221,587 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 468,956. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $341.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $268.13. The company has a market cap of $10.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 155.38, a PEG ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.68. Wingstop has a fifty-two week low of $150.08 and a fifty-two week high of $379.00.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The restaurant operator reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $127.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.47 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 15.25% and a negative return on equity of 17.66%. The business's revenue was up 21.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Wingstop will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,843 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total transaction of $3,658,428.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,107 shares in the company, valued at $5,771,901.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Kilandigalu Madati sold 1,472 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.87, for a total value of $500,288.64. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,852,291.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,843 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total transaction of $3,658,428.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,771,901.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 14,901 shares of company stock worth $5,120,605. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wingstop

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Wingstop in the first quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Capital CS Group LLC bought a new position in Wingstop during the first quarter worth $616,000. BTC Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Wingstop during the first quarter worth $363,000. Wedmont Private Capital bought a new position in Wingstop during the first quarter worth $203,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Wingstop during the first quarter worth $29,000.

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.