Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Sees Large Volume Increase Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. 1,166,414 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 98% from the previous session’s volume of 588,989 shares.The stock last traded at $253.29 and had previously closed at $230.51.

The restaurant operator reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.15. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 21.59% and a net margin of 17.37%. The business had revenue of $171.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WING shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Wingstop from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Guggenheim upgraded Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $280.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $260.00 price target on Wingstop in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Wingstop from $242.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Wingstop from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wingstop currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.17.

Institutional Trading of Wingstop

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Wingstop in the fourth quarter valued at about $10,177,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Wingstop by 277.5% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,771 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,356,000 after buying an additional 3,507 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its stake in Wingstop by 779.1% in the fourth quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 18,461 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,247,000 after buying an additional 16,361 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Wingstop by 475.0% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 69,234 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $19,676,000 after buying an additional 57,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP boosted its stake in Wingstop by 149.0% in the fourth quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 5,309 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,509,000 after buying an additional 3,177 shares in the last quarter.

Wingstop Stock Down 1.6 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $226.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $281.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 2.02.

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.