Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) Short Interest Update

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,530,000 shares, a growth of 35.3% from the April 30th total of 1,870,000 shares. Approximately 9.1% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 932,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Wingstop from $315.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $348.35.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 47,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,919,074.60. This represents a 17.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 637 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.07, for a total transaction of $173,945.59. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 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. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Wingstop in the first quarter valued at $11,279,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 121.4% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 217 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 92,439 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $20,852,000 after buying an additional 4,937 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in shares of Wingstop during the first quarter valued at approximately $429,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 2,770.6% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,952 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884 shares during the last quarter.

Wingstop Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of WING stock traded up $3.05 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $368.65. The stock had a trading volume of 46,968 shares, compared to its average volume of 627,112. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $269.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $276.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.29 billion, a PE ratio of 99.36, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.80. Wingstop has a 12 month low of $204.00 and a 12 month high of $433.86.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $171.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.25 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 17.37% and a negative return on equity of 21.59%. Wingstop's quarterly revenue was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Wingstop will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio is 18.09%.

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.