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

Key Points

• Wingstop Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from 29 research firms, with an average 1-year price target of $380.52.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30, marking an increase from the previous $0.27, resulting in an annualized dividend of $1.20.
• In the last quarter, Wingstop reported earnings of $1.00 per share, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.88, alongside a year-over-year revenue increase of 12.0%.

Shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-nine research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $380.52.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $440.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "overweight" rating for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "overweight" rating and set a $440.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup upped their target price on Wingstop from $296.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Wingstop from $335.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st.

Wingstop Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of WING stock opened at $249.23 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.87. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $310.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $294.93. Wingstop has a 1 year low of $204.00 and a 1 year high of $427.94.

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

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This is a positive change from Wingstop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Marisa Carona sold 11,938 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.34, for a total value of $4,421,118.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Alex Kaleida sold 5,400 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 8,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,144,864.58. The trade was a 39.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,838 shares of company stock worth $8,118,535. Insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Wingstop

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WING. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Wingstop in the first quarter valued at $212,672,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings 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 valued at $371,517,000 after purchasing an additional 496,717 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Wingstop by 130.7% in the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 631,989 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $142,564,000 after purchasing an additional 358,044 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Wingstop in the second quarter valued at $118,211,000. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Wingstop in the second quarter valued at $114,758,000.

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.

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