Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Reaches New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) reached a new 52-week high during trading 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 changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $369.90.

WING has been the topic of several other research reports. Stephens started coverage on shares of Wingstop in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $425.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $340.00 price objective on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $310.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $294.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,843 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total transaction of $3,658,428.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 17,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,771,901.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,843 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total transaction of $3,658,428.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 17,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,771,901.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kilandigalu Madati sold 1,472 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.87, for a total transaction of $500,288.64. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,450 shares in the company, valued at $1,852,291.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 14,901 shares of company stock valued at $5,120,605. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WING. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Wingstop by 29.4% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,626,558 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $292,520,000 after acquiring an additional 370,032 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 121,134 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 19,540 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Wingstop by 64.3% during the 3rd 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. lifted its stake in Wingstop by 155.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 873,385 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $224,093,000 after buying an additional 531,880 shares in the last quarter.

Wingstop Stock Up 3.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $11.24 billion, a PE ratio of 162.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.27 and a beta of 1.68. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $353.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $279.41.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The restaurant operator reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $127.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $120.47 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 15.25%. Wingstop’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.