Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Shares Down 4.2% – Here’s Why

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) dropped 4.2% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $255.51 and last traded at $254.02. Approximately 51,750 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 94% from the average daily volume of 829,227 shares. The stock had previously closed at $265.25.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WING has been the subject of several recent research reports. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Wingstop from $325.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Wingstop from $350.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Benchmark decreased their price target on Wingstop from $410.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 29th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Wingstop from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.92.

Wingstop Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $7.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $303.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $297.23.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $174.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.60 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 25.61%.Wingstop’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is a positive change from Wingstop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Wingstop’s payout ratio is 20.00%.

Insider Activity at Wingstop

In related news, SVP Marisa Carona sold 11,938 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.34, for a total transaction of $4,421,118.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Alex Kaleida sold 5,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.09, for a total value of $2,030,886.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,144,864.58. This represents a 39.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,838 shares of company stock valued at $8,118,535. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wingstop

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wedmont Private Capital purchased a new position in Wingstop in the 1st quarter worth approximately $269,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its stake in Wingstop by 79.2% in the 1st quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 6,111 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Wingstop by 66.3% during the first quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 446,601 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $100,744,000 after buying an additional 178,041 shares during the period. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Wingstop by 289.2% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 18,595 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,514,000 after buying an additional 13,817 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Wingstop by 167.4% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,035 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $459,000 after buying an additional 1,274 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.