Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Now Covered by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $270.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush decreased their target price on shares of Wingstop from $390.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. TD Securities lowered their target price on Wingstop from $365.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Wingstop from $389.00 to $375.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $353.68.

Wingstop Trading Up 0.1 %

WING stock opened at $220.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $259.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $314.57. Wingstop has a 12 month low of $205.60 and a 12 month high of $433.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.88.

Wingstop announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Wingstop’s payout ratio is presently 29.11%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wingstop

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WING. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in Wingstop during the 4th quarter worth approximately $151,802,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Wingstop during the fourth quarter worth approximately $115,301,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Wingstop during the fourth quarter worth approximately $106,123,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 760.9% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 381,745 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $108,497,000 after purchasing an additional 337,401 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Wingstop in the 4th quarter valued at $77,855,000.

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.