Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Sell

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on WING. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $363.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Wingstop from $320.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Wingstop from $365.00 to $330.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $340.64.

Wingstop Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of WING opened at $274.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.77. Wingstop has a twelve month low of $204.00 and a twelve month high of $388.14. The company has a 50 day moving average of $248.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $280.47.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $175.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.10 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 25.51%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Wingstop will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 21st. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.54%.

Insider Transactions at Wingstop

In other Wingstop news, Director Kilandigalu Madati sold 269 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.97, for a total value of $69,931.93. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,373,421.51. This represents a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Wingstop

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Wingstop during the first quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 90.7% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,349 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 2,770.6% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,952 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 5.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 92,439 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $20,852,000 after buying an additional 4,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Wingstop by 121.4% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 217 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period.

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.