Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Earns Overweight Rating from Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $270.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price target (down previously from $375.00) on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Wingstop from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Wingstop from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Northcoast Research cut Wingstop from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Wingstop from $389.00 to $375.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $353.68.

Wingstop Price Performance

WING opened at $224.00 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $257.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $313.00. The firm has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.38, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.88. Wingstop has a 1 year low of $205.60 and a 1 year high of $433.86.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.11%.

Wingstop announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WING. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wingstop during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 521.4% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Wingstop by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 91 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Wingstop during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in Wingstop by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 143 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 37 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.