Stifel Nicolaus Lowers Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Price Target to $375.00

Key Points

• Stifel Nicolaus has lowered its price target for Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) from $405.00 to $375.00, while maintaining a "buy" rating, indicating a potential upside of 23.04% from the current price.
• Wingstop recently reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 12%.
• Insider transactions have shown significant stock sales, with CFO Alex Kaleida selling 5,400 shares, leading to a 39.24% decrease in their ownership of Wingstop stock.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by stock analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $405.00 to $375.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the restaurant operator's stock. Stifel Nicolaus' target price suggests a potential upside of 36.51% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on WING. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Westpark Capital upgraded Wingstop to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Wingstop from $275.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Wingstop from $367.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wingstop presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $380.52.

Wingstop Price Performance

NASDAQ WING traded down $5.95 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $274.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 827,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 794,780. Wingstop has a 52-week low of $204.00 and a 52-week high of $433.86. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $324.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $292.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.87.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 4,500 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 42,777 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,842,034.18. This represents a 9.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Alex Kaleida sold 5,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.09, for a total value of $2,030,886.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,144,864.58. This trade represents a 39.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,838 shares of company stock worth $8,118,535 in the last three months. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WING. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Wingstop in the first quarter worth $212,672,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Wingstop by 43.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,646,934 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $371,517,000 after buying an additional 496,717 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its position in Wingstop by 130.7% in the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 631,989 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $142,564,000 after buying an additional 358,044 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Wingstop during the 2nd quarter worth $118,211,000. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP acquired a new position in Wingstop during the 2nd quarter worth $114,758,000.

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.