Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-one have issued a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $379.52.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on WING shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Wingstop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Westpark Capital upgraded Wingstop to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. William Blair started coverage on Wingstop in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Truist Financial upgraded Wingstop from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $274.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Thursday, May 1st.

Wingstop Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of WING stock opened at $342.73 on Thursday. Wingstop has a fifty-two week low of $204.00 and a fifty-two week high of $433.86. The stock has a market cap of $9.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.12, a P/E/G ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 1.84. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $339.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $289.05.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $174.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wingstop will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Wingstop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,000 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.34, for a total value of $3,373,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 47,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,919,074.60. The trade was a 17.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Marisa Carona sold 11,938 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were 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 31,838 shares of company stock valued at $11,491,935 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wingstop

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new position in Wingstop during the 1st quarter worth approximately $269,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its position in Wingstop by 79.2% during the 1st quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 6,111 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,379,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its position in Wingstop by 66.3% during the 1st quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 446,601 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $100,744,000 after acquiring an additional 178,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Wingstop by 167.4% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,035 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 1,274 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.