Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) Raises Dividend to $0.27 Per Share

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 30th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a dividend of 0.27 per share by the restaurant operator on Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This is a boost from Wingstop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22.

Wingstop has increased its dividend payment by an average of 17.9% per year over the last three years. Wingstop has a payout ratio of 20.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Wingstop to earn $4.26 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.7%.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of WING opened at $373.88 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $10.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 133.05, a PEG ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 1.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $394.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $360.60. Wingstop has a 12 month low of $150.08 and a 12 month high of $431.03.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.11. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 19.64% and a net margin of 16.75%. The company had revenue of $155.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $146.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Wingstop will post 3.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WING shares. Barclays increased their price target on Wingstop from $350.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Wingstop in a report on Thursday, June 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $407.00 price objective for the company. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $456.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Wingstop from $310.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Wingstop from $421.00 to $461.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wingstop presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $342.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ania Smith sold 566 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.91, for a total transaction of $215,595.06. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $443,379.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Kate S. Lavelle sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.57, for a total transaction of $295,927.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,407,431.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ania Smith sold 566 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.91, for a total value of $215,595.06. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $443,379.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,191 shares of company stock valued at $2,443,547 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

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.