Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.27

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 18th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.27 per share by the restaurant operator on Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th.

Wingstop has increased its dividend by an average of 16.5% annually over the last three years. Wingstop has a payout ratio of 22.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Wingstop to earn $5.07 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 21.3%.

Wingstop Stock Performance

WING stock opened at $229.26 on Wednesday. Wingstop has a one year low of $218.23 and a one year high of $433.86. The company has a fifty day moving average of $281.73 and a 200-day moving average of $334.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.57 billion, a PE ratio of 61.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.81.

Wingstop announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Wingstop

In related news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.38, for a total transaction of $86,285.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,285.08. This trade represents a 50.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on WING. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 price target (down from $375.00) on shares of Wingstop in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Northcoast Research cut shares of Wingstop from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Wingstop from $359.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wingstop presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.67.

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.