Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Earns Outperform Rating from Analysts at William Blair

William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating on the restaurant operator's stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WING. Jefferies Financial Group raised Wingstop from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $360.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Citigroup cut Wingstop from a "neutral" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Wingstop from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $440.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wingstop presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $358.83.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of WING traded up $7.41 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $334.06. 582,218 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 655,062. The stock has a market cap of $9.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.96, a P/E/G ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 1.84. The stock's 50-day moving average is $328.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $280.84. Wingstop has a 12 month low of $204.00 and a 12 month high of $433.86.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.15. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 26.45%. The company had revenue of $171.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $172.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. Wingstop's revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Wingstop will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors 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 yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wingstop

In other news, 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 47,190 shares in the company, valued at $15,919,074.60. This trade represents a 17.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $173,945.59. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 517 shares in the company, valued at $141,177.19. This trade represents a 55.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Wingstop by 22.3% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 181 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Wingstop by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 6,569 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,212,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Wingstop by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 91 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in Wingstop by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 795 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Wingstop by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 740 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $210,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter.

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.