Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Stock Price Down 5.8% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Wingstop shares fell 5.8% on Tuesday, trading as low as $144.51 and closing well below the prior day’s $154.06 level on lighter-than-normal volume.
• Despite the price drop, Wall Street remains broadly positive: analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $261.19, even after several firms trimmed their targets.
• Wingstop recently reported strong earnings growth, beating EPS estimates with $1.18 per share and posting 7.4% revenue growth year over year, while also paying a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share.

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 5.8% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $144.51 and last traded at $145.1410. 140,125 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 1,143,777 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.06.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Wingstop from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Wingstop from $325.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on Wingstop in a research report on Monday, March 30th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Wingstop from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $283.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $261.19.

Wingstop Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.79. The business's 50-day moving average price is $150.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $199.25.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $183.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $187.82 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 15.77%.Wingstop's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Wingstop's payout ratio is 29.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wingstop during the 3rd quarter valued at $375,317,000. Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its stake in Wingstop by 32.4% in the 1st quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 68,489 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $10,614,000 after buying an additional 16,764 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Wingstop by 553.3% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 41,349 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $9,861,000 after acquiring an additional 35,020 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lifted its position in shares of Wingstop by 113.8% in the fourth quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 11,800 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,814,000 after acquiring an additional 6,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in Wingstop during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $10,757,000.

About Wingstop

Wingstop Inc NASDAQ: WING is a fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in chicken wings and related menu items. Founded in 1994 in Garland, Texas, the company has built its brand around bold, chef-inspired wing flavors and a streamlined service model that caters to dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering orders.

The company's core offerings include both bone-in and boneless chicken wings tossed in a variety of proprietary rubs and sauces, such as Original Hot, Lemon Pepper, and Mango Habanero.

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