Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Now Covered by Analysts at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $320.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Wingstop in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Wingstop from $320.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Melius Research set a $350.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wingstop currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $337.29.

Wingstop Stock Down 2.1%

NASDAQ:WING opened at $224.28 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $258.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $259.71. Wingstop has a 52 week low of $204.00 and a 52 week high of $388.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.82.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $175.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $177.74 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 16.12% and a net margin of 25.01%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Wingstop will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is 19.42%.

Insider Activity at Wingstop

In other news, Director Wesley S. Mcdonald sold 566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $141,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,093,750. This represents a 11.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kilandigalu Madati sold 2,700 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.73, for a total transaction of $703,971.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,583 shares in the company, valued at $673,465.59. This represents a 51.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Wingstop

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WING. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Wingstop by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 959 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Wingstop by 17.3% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 265 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 426 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 4.6% in the second quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 997 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $336,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Wingstop by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,628 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $627,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter.

About Wingstop

Wingstop Inc (NASDAQ: WING) is a fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in chicken wings and related menu items. Founded in 1994 in Garland, Texas, the company has built its brand around bold, chef-inspired wing flavors and a streamlined service model that caters to dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering orders.

The company’s core offerings include both bone-in and boneless chicken wings tossed in a variety of proprietary rubs and sauces, such as Original Hot, Lemon Pepper, and Mango Habanero.