Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Trading Down 5.6% – What’s Next?

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)’s stock price fell 5.6% on Friday . The company traded as low as $303.71 and last traded at $304.90. 313,632 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 459,072 shares. The stock had previously closed at $322.89.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WING has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on Wingstop from $417.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Wingstop from $450.00 to $365.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Benchmark upgraded Wingstop from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $340.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.74.

Wingstop Trading Down 5.8 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $8.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a fifty day moving average of $346.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $377.23.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $162.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.24 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 22.69% and a net margin of 17.05%. Wingstop’s quarterly revenue was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.69 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.49%.

Wingstop announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wingstop

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Driehaus Capital Management LLC grew its position in Wingstop by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 193,307 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $81,703,000 after purchasing an additional 7,600 shares during the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC acquired a new stake in Wingstop during the second quarter worth about $2,249,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Wingstop during the third quarter valued at about $5,010,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Wingstop by 36.6% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 602,990 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $254,860,000 after acquiring an additional 161,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wingstop by 40.8% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 465,368 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $193,630,000 after acquiring an additional 134,802 shares during the period.

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.