TD Cowen Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING)

TD Cowen restated their buy rating on shares of Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $410.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock.

WING has been the topic of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Wingstop from $235.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Wingstop from $280.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Benchmark restated a hold rating on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $310.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a hold rating and issued a $292.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a report on Monday, April 1st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $330.39.

Wingstop Stock Performance

Shares of WING opened at $388.55 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $359.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $286.56. Wingstop has a fifty-two week low of $150.08 and a fifty-two week high of $396.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.41 billion, a PE ratio of 135.78, a PEG ratio of 6.60 and a beta of 1.67.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $145.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $136.34 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 16.75% and a negative return on equity of 19.64%. The company’s revenue was up 34.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Wingstop will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Wingstop’s payout ratio is 31.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total value of $3,658,428.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 17,107 shares in the company, valued at $5,771,901.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Kilandigalu Madati sold 1,472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.87, for a total value of $500,288.64. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,852,291.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total value of $3,658,428.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,107 shares in the company, valued at $5,771,901.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 14,901 shares of company stock valued at $5,120,605. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Wingstop by 64.6% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 2,859 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $514,000 after buying an additional 1,122 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Wingstop by 22.3% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,985 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after buying an additional 1,093 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio lifted its holdings in Wingstop by 101.1% in the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 70,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $12,660,000 after purchasing an additional 35,400 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wingstop during the 3rd quarter worth $502,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 4.2% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 22,813 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,103,000 after acquiring an additional 916 shares during the period.

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.