Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-three research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $340.00.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Wingstop from $400.00 to $365.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Wingstop from $295.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Wingstop from $363.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wingstop news, Director Kilandigalu Madati sold 269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.97, for a total transaction of $69,931.93. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,373,421.51. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Wingstop

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG raised its position in Wingstop by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 20,039 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,779,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Wingstop by 376.9% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 4,903 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,169,000 after buying an additional 3,875 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Wingstop by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,774 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,377,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 2,955.7% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 50,328 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $12,003,000 after acquiring an additional 48,681 shares during the period. Finally, Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 33.5% in the fourth quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 51,725 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $12,336,000 after acquiring an additional 12,985 shares during the last quarter.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WING opened at $272.70 on Thursday. Wingstop has a 1 year low of $204.00 and a 1 year high of $388.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.77. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $258.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $274.97.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.18. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 25.51%.The firm had revenue of $175.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.10 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Wingstop will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 21st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.54%.

About Wingstop

Wingstop Inc (NASDAQ: WING) is a fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in chicken wings and related menu items. Founded in 1994 in Garland, Texas, the company has built its brand around bold, chef-inspired wing flavors and a streamlined service model that caters to dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering orders.

The company’s core offerings include both bone-in and boneless chicken wings tossed in a variety of proprietary rubs and sauces, such as Original Hot, Lemon Pepper, and Mango Habanero.