Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Upgraded at Guggenheim

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) was upgraded by research analysts at Guggenheim from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm currently has a $280.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock. Guggenheim’s price target suggests a potential upside of 19.65% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. TD Securities lowered their price target on Wingstop from $365.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price objective (down from $375.00) on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $362.90.

Wingstop Stock Down 5.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WING opened at $234.02 on Monday. Wingstop has a 52 week low of $232.19 and a 52 week high of $433.86. The company has a market cap of $6.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.08, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $288.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $340.14.

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

Insider Transactions at Wingstop

In other Wingstop news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.38, for a total value of $86,285.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,285.08. This represents a 50.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Wingstop

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WING. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,206,062 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $342,763,000 after buying an additional 22,552 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Wingstop by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,150,217 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $326,893,000 after purchasing an additional 262,229 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Wingstop by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 861,783 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $358,571,000 after purchasing an additional 12,549 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Wingstop by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 816,991 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $326,020,000 after purchasing an additional 7,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Wingstop by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 801,732 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $227,852,000 after acquiring an additional 154,055 shares during the last quarter.

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.