Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Upgraded to “Buy” at Benchmark

Benchmark upgraded shares of Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $340.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock.

WING has been the topic of several other research reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $417.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Wingstop from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Wingstop from $407.00 to $423.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Wingstop from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $370.85.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of WING opened at $287.69 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.43 billion, a PE ratio of 83.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.71. Wingstop has a one year low of $177.88 and a one year high of $433.86. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $392.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $388.27.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $162.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.24 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 22.69% and a net margin of 17.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.69 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Wingstop will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is 31.49%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Donnie Upshaw sold 3,199 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $372.71, for a total transaction of $1,192,299.29. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 97 shares in the company, valued at $36,152.87. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wingstop

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Wingstop during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in Wingstop by 60.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 93 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Wingstop by 60.6% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 106 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wingstop by 384.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 126 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter.

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.