Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Sets New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Friday after Wedbush raised their price target on the stock from $340.00 to $400.00. Wedbush currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Wingstop traded as high as $380.63 and last traded at $378.22, with a volume of 149767 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $369.90.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on WING. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $340.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Wingstop from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Wingstop from $235.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Stephens assumed coverage on Wingstop in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $425.00 price target for the company. Finally, 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. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $294.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,843 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total value of $3,658,428.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,771,901.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,843 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total transaction of $3,658,428.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,771,901.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kilandigalu Madati sold 1,472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.87, for a total value of $500,288.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,852,291.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,901 shares of company stock worth $5,120,605. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Wingstop by 29.4% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,626,558 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $292,520,000 after purchasing an additional 370,032 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 11.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,167,230 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $209,915,000 after buying an additional 121,134 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,107,852 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $284,253,000 after buying an additional 19,540 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 64.3% in the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,079,939 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $194,216,000 after buying an additional 422,727 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 155.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 873,385 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $224,093,000 after buying an additional 531,880 shares during the period.

Wingstop Stock Up 3.4 %

The stock has a market cap of $11.24 billion, a PE ratio of 162.79, a P/E/G ratio of 6.39 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $354.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $281.55.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The restaurant operator reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.07. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 15.25%. The firm had revenue of $127.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $120.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. Wingstop’s payout ratio is 37.45%.

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.