Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Coverage Initiated at William Blair

Research analysts at William Blair began coverage on shares of Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) in a research report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. BTIG Research lifted their price target on Wingstop from $350.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Wingstop from $271.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $360.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Citigroup downgraded Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised Wingstop to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Wingstop currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $358.83.

Wingstop Price Performance

WING opened at $330.16 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $331.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $281.48. Wingstop has a 1 year low of $204.00 and a 1 year high of $433.86. The company has a market capitalization of $9.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.30, a P/E/G ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 1.84.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.15. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 26.45%. The firm had revenue of $171.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Wingstop will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Wingstop

In related news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 637 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.07, for a total transaction of $173,945.59. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,177.19. This trade represents a 55.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,000 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.34, for a total value of $3,373,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 47,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,919,074.60. This represents a 17.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wingstop

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Wingstop by 22.3% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 181 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in Wingstop by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,165 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Wingstop by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 6,569 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,212,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Wingstop by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 91 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Wingstop by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 795 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter.

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.