Wall Street Zen Downgrades Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) to Sell

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen has downgraded Wingstop from a "hold" to a "sell" rating, reflecting a negative outlook for the company's stock.
• Despite the downgrade, analysts maintain a Moderate Buy average rating on Wingstop shares, with target prices ranging from $280 to $440.
• Wingstop's stock has recently seen a 3.9% decline, with its price currently around $362.45 and a market cap of over $10 billion.

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Saturday.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Guggenheim raised their price target on Wingstop from $325.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America cut their price objective on Wingstop from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Truist Financial upgraded Wingstop from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $274.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Melius began coverage on Wingstop in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They set a "hold" rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on Wingstop from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wingstop has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $379.52.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WING traded down $14.89 during trading on Friday, reaching $362.45. 1,199,950 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 830,949. Wingstop has a 1-year low of $204.00 and a 1-year high of $433.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $340.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $286.07. The firm has a market cap of $10.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.84.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $174.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.60 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 25.61%. Wingstop's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Wingstop will post 4.18 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This is a positive change from Wingstop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio is 18.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wingstop news, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 42,777 shares in the company, valued at $15,842,034.18. This trade represents a 9.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 637 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.07, for a total value of $173,945.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 517 shares in the company, valued at $141,177.19. This trade represents a 55.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,475 shares of company stock valued at $11,665,881 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Wingstop

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 93.9% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 128 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Wingstop by 106.9% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 149 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in Wingstop by 62.1% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 141 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Wingstop during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Wingstop during the 2nd quarter worth about $43,000.

About Wingstop

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.