Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89 by ($0.01), Zacks reports. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 22.69% and a net margin of 17.05%.

Wingstop Stock Down 12.4 %

Shares of Wingstop stock traded down $38.07 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $267.96. 958,131 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 594,955. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $293.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $342.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.81. Wingstop has a one year low of $266.00 and a one year high of $433.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of Wingstop 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,285.08. The trade was a 50.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $468.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Benchmark upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Wingstop from $450.00 to $365.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Wingstop from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $385.00 to $389.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wingstop currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.72.

Wingstop announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.