Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Shares Climb 7.4% – Here’s Why

Shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) traded up 7.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as high as $115.10 and last traded at $114.7010. 470,812 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 1,185,798 shares. The stock had previously closed at $106.84.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $160.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Wingstop from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $220.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. BTIG Research cut their target price on shares of Wingstop from $305.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Wingstop to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Wingstop from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.44.

Wingstop Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $112.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $141.98. The stock has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.81.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 16.15%.The company had revenue of $185.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. Wingstop’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a boost from Wingstop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Wingstop’s payout ratio is currently 31.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in Wingstop during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the 2nd quarter worth about $46,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wingstop during the 2nd quarter worth about $62,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Wingstop by 35.9% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 382 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in Wingstop in the second quarter worth about $69,000.

About Wingstop

Wingstop Inc is a restaurant company that specializes in made-to-order chicken wings and related menu items. Its offerings include classic and boneless wings prepared with a variety of signature flavors, as well as chicken sandwiches, tenders, seasoned fries, sides, dips and beverages. The company serves customers through dine-in, takeout, delivery and digital ordering channels.

Founded in 1994 in Garland, Texas, Wingstop has developed primarily as a franchised restaurant brand. The company supports its franchisees through brand marketing, restaurant development, operating systems, menu innovation and supply-chain coordination, while franchisees generally own and operate individual locations.