Wall Street Zen Upgrades Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) to "Hold"

Key Points

• Wingstop has been upgraded from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating by analysts at Wall Street Zen, reflecting a shift in investor sentiment.
• Several institutions have raised their price targets for Wingstop, with Barclays increasing it to $440.00 and Wells Fargo raising it to $415.00, indicating bullish expectations for the stock.
• Share prices for Wingstop recently decreased by 4.6%, trading at around $315.36, with a market cap of $8.81 billion.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Sunday.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on WING. Guggenheim upped their target price on Wingstop from $325.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on Wingstop from $335.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Wingstop from $375.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wolfe Research began coverage on Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Westpark Capital raised Wingstop to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $379.52.

Wingstop Stock Up 0.3%

WING stock traded up $0.90 on Friday, reaching $343.06. 303,106 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 825,563. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $339.73 and a 200-day moving average of $288.68. Wingstop has a twelve month low of $204.00 and a twelve month high of $433.86. The firm has a market cap of $9.58 billion, a PE ratio of 57.23, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.84.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Marisa Carona sold 11,938 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.34, for a total value of $4,421,118.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Alex Kaleida sold 5,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.09, for a total transaction of $2,030,886.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,144,864.58. This trade represents a 39.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,838 shares of company stock valued at $11,491,935 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 36.0% in the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 36,780 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $10,453,000 after purchasing an additional 9,735 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital bought a new position in Wingstop in the 1st quarter valued at $269,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 79.2% in the 1st quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 6,111 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 66.3% in the 1st quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 446,601 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $100,744,000 after purchasing an additional 178,041 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 167.4% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,035 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 1,274 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.