Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Wingstop Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from 29 analysts, with an average 12-month price target of $379.52.
• Recent analyst upgrades include price targets raised by Wells Fargo and BTIG Research, with prices now ranging from $415.00 to $430.00.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30, increasing from the previous $0.27, representing an annual yield of 0.4%.

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-nine analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-one have assigned a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $379.52.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WING shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Wingstop from $375.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Westpark Capital raised shares of Wingstop to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Wingstop from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $350.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Truist Financial raised shares of Wingstop from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $274.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th.

Insider Activity at Wingstop

In other news, 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 value of $2,030,886.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,144,864.58. This trade represents a 39.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.34, for a total value of $1,666,530.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 42,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,842,034.18. The trade was a 9.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 31,838 shares of company stock worth $11,491,935. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Wingstop

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WING. Quaker Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Wingstop by 134.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 104 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Wingstop in the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in Wingstop by 93.9% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 128 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wingstop by 4,200.0% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 129 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of Wingstop by 62.1% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 141 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WING opened at $335.95 on Thursday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $340.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $287.30. The company has a market capitalization of $9.38 billion, a PE ratio of 55.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 1.84. Wingstop has a 12-month low of $204.00 and a 12-month high of $433.86.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $174.33 million for 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 revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Wingstop will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Wingstop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Wingstop's payout ratio is currently 18.00%.

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.

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