Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Price Target Cut to $315.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) had its price objective decreased by Barclays from $359.00 to $315.00 in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on WING. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a report on Wednesday. Benchmark decreased their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $340.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $367.05.

Wingstop Stock Performance

NASDAQ WING opened at $247.09 on Thursday. Wingstop has a 52-week low of $242.58 and a 52-week high of $433.86. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $290.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $341.28. The company has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a PE ratio of 72.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.81.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.49%.

Wingstop declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Wingstop

In other Wingstop news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.38, for a total transaction of $86,285.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 266 shares in the company, valued at $86,285.08. The trade was a 50.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

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

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.