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

Shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-five ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nineteen have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $352.70.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WING shares. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Wingstop from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Wingstop to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Wingstop from $271.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group lowered their target price 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. Finally, TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $440.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Tuesday.

Insider Transactions at Wingstop

In other news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 637 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 517 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $141,177.19. This trade represents a 55.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.34, for a total transaction of $3,373,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,919,074.60. The trade was a 17.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wingstop

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Wingstop during the 4th quarter valued at about $10,177,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its holdings in Wingstop by 779.1% during the 4th quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 18,461 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $5,247,000 after purchasing an additional 16,361 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Wingstop by 475.0% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 69,234 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $19,676,000 after purchasing an additional 57,193 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP lifted its holdings in Wingstop by 149.0% during the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 5,309 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,509,000 after purchasing an additional 3,177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Wingstop by 153.0% during the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 80,853 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $22,978,000 after purchasing an additional 48,898 shares during the last quarter.

Wingstop Stock Performance

Shares of Wingstop stock traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $350.00. 910,665 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 643,456. The company has a market cap of $9.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.88. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $300.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $278.57. Wingstop has a 52 week low of $204.00 and a 52 week high of $433.86.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 26.45% and a negative return on equity of 18.85%. Wingstop's revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Wingstop will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Wingstop's payout ratio is 18.09%.

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.