Sanford C. Bernstein Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Stock

Key Points

• Sanford C. Bernstein has raised its target price for Wingstop (NASDAQ: WING) from $330.00 to $400.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.83% from the stock's previous close.
• Wingstop reported $1.00 earnings per share for its latest quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.88, with a revenue of $174.33 million, up 12.0% from the previous year.
• Current consensus ratings for Wingstop show a strong bullish sentiment, with twenty-one analysts rating it as a buy and an average price target of $363.52.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) had its price target upped by Sanford C. Bernstein from $330.00 to $400.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has an outperform rating on the restaurant operator's stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on WING. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $400.00 price target (down from $425.00) on shares of Wingstop in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Wingstop from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Wingstop from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 18th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "overweight" rating for the company. Finally, William Blair started coverage on Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued 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 currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $379.52.

Wingstop Stock Performance

Shares of WING traded down $14.89 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $362.45. The company had a trading volume of 1,199,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 770,947. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $340.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $285.90. Wingstop has a 1-year low of $204.00 and a 1-year high of $433.86. The company has a market capitalization of $10.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.41, a P/E/G ratio of 5.05 and a beta of 1.84.

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

Wingstop Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Wingstop

In other news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 637 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.07, for a total transaction of $173,945.59. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 517 shares of the company's stock, valued at $141,177.19. This represents a 55.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Alex Kaleida sold 5,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.09, for a total transaction of $2,030,886.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,362 shares in the company, valued at $3,144,864.58. This trade represents a 39.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,475 shares of company stock worth $11,665,881 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wingstop

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Freedom Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Wingstop by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,371 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $462,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Wingstop by 16.8% in the 2nd 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. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in Wingstop by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,165 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Wingstop by 22.3% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 181 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Wingstop by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 6,569 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,212,000 after acquiring an additional 34 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.