Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Trading 4.5% Higher - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Wingstop's stock (NASDAQ: WING) increased by 4.5% during trading, reaching a high of $257.28, despite a significant drop in trading volume.
• Analysts' opinions are mixed, with one rating the stock as a sell while others maintain buy or outperform ratings, leaving a consensus target price of $366.73.
• The company recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.30 per share, reflecting a positive financial trend with a revenue increase of 12% year-over-year.

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) traded up 4.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $256.00 and last traded at $257.28. 193,961 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 825,604 shares. The stock had previously closed at $246.27.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Wingstop from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Truist Financial set a $400.00 target price on Wingstop in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "overweight" rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Wingstop from $400.00 to $372.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $366.73.

Wingstop Trading Up 4.0%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $287.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $298.34. The company has a market cap of $7.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.78.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $174.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.60 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 25.61%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This is a positive change from Wingstop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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 shares were sold at an average price of $376.09, for a total transaction of $2,030,886.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,144,864.58. This represents a 39.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $4,421,118.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,838 shares of company stock valued at $8,118,535 over the last three months. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WING. Freedom Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Wingstop by 2.2% in the second quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,371 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $462,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Wingstop by 16.8% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 223 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Wingstop by 22.3% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 181 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of Wingstop by 2.9% in the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,165 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Wingstop by 0.5% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 6,569 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,212,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period.

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.

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