Benchmark Reiterates “Hold” Rating for Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING)

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reissued by analysts at Benchmark in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on WING. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Wingstop from $235.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Wingstop from $280.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Wedbush increased their price objective on Wingstop from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $410.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Wingstop from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.11.

Wingstop Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of WING traded up $3.87 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $387.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 134,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 480,483. The business has a fifty day moving average of $358.55 and a 200 day moving average of $285.89. The company has a market cap of $11.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 162.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.61 and a beta of 1.67. Wingstop has a 1 year low of $150.08 and a 1 year high of $396.00.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The restaurant operator reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $127.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.47 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 15.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Wingstop will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Marisa Carona sold 2,586 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.96, for a total transaction of $961,888.56. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $612,246.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Wingstop news, Director Kilandigalu Madati sold 1,472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.87, for a total transaction of $500,288.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,450 shares in the company, valued at $1,852,291.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Marisa Carona sold 2,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.96, for a total transaction of $961,888.56. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $612,246.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,901 shares of company stock valued at $5,120,605 over the last three months. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WING. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Wingstop in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Wingstop in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Wingstop in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Wingstop in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Wingstop by 53.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 115 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during 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.