Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-five research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nineteen have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $339.43.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WING. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Wingstop from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Wingstop from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Wingstop from $280.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Wingstop from $389.00 to $375.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WING traded up $16.23 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $338.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 683,019 shares, compared to its average volume of 624,514. Wingstop has a fifty-two week low of $204.00 and a fifty-two week high of $433.86. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $252.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $275.14. The company has a market capitalization of $9.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.80.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.15. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 21.59% and a net margin of 17.37%. The business had revenue of $171.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $172.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Wingstop will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. Wingstop's payout ratio is 18.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 637 shares of the business'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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 517 shares in the company, valued at $141,177.19. The trade was a 55.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 521.4% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Wingstop by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 91 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in Wingstop by 93.9% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 128 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Wingstop in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 106.9% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 149 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter.

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.