Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Earns "Outperform" Rating from Wedbush

Key Points

• Wedbush has restated Wingstop's stock rating as "outperform," while the consensus rating among analysts is "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $380.52.
• Recent financial results showed Wingstop reported a quarterly EPS of $1.00, surpassing the consensus estimate by $0.12, with revenues growing by 12% year-over-year.
• Several top analysts, including Bank of America and UBS Group, have adjusted their target prices, contributing to varied ratings of "Strong Buy," "Buy," and "Hold" among the stock analysts covering Wingstop.

Wedbush reissued their outperform rating on shares of Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) in a report released on Wednesday morning,RTT News reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Wingstop from $335.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Wingstop from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of Wingstop from $325.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Wingstop from $296.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised Wingstop from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $420.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $380.52.

Wingstop Stock Performance

NASDAQ WING traded down $2.32 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $253.55. 1,031,006 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 849,124. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.26, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.87. Wingstop has a 12-month low of $204.00 and a 12-month high of $433.86. The business has a 50 day moving average of $316.33 and a 200-day moving average of $294.53.

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

Wingstop Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wingstop news, CFO Alex Kaleida sold 5,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,362 shares in the company, valued at $3,144,864.58. This trade represents a 39.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,838 shares of company stock worth $8,118,535 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wingstop

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WING. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Wingstop by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,144 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $894,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Wingstop by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 91,522 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $26,010,000 after purchasing an additional 17,576 shares in the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in Wingstop by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 5,801 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,649,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in Wingstop by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 795 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Wingstop by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 87,502 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $24,868,000 after purchasing an additional 11,577 shares in 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.