Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Shares Up 8.6% – Here’s Why

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) shares traded up 8.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $123.00 and last traded at $123.6930. Approximately 247,609 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 1,167,878 shares. The stock had previously closed at $113.90.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on WING. Citigroup dropped their price target on Wingstop from $237.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Wingstop from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $155.00 in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Benchmark dropped their target price on shares of Wingstop from $285.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $173.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wingstop presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $241.81.

Wingstop Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 29.20, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $146.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.83.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. Wingstop had a net margin of 16.15% and a negative return on equity of 16.31%. The firm had revenue of $185.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.25 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. Wingstop’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, August 15th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This is an increase from Wingstop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is 31.35%.

Institutional Trading of Wingstop

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its position in Wingstop by 32.4% in the 1st quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 68,489 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,614,000 after acquiring an additional 16,764 shares during the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lifted its position in shares of Wingstop by 113.8% in the 4th quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 11,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,814,000 after purchasing an additional 6,280 shares during the period. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Wingstop during the 4th quarter valued at $1,502,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Wingstop by 813.7% in the fourth quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 84,304 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $20,106,000 after purchasing an additional 75,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Wingstop by 472.3% during the 4th quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 9,534 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,274,000 after acquiring an additional 7,868 shares in the last quarter.

Wingstop Company Profile

Wingstop Inc (NASDAQ: WING) is a fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in chicken wings and related menu items. Founded in 1994 in Garland, Texas, the company has built its brand around bold, chef-inspired wing flavors and a streamlined service model that caters to dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering orders.

The company’s core offerings include both bone-in and boneless chicken wings tossed in a variety of proprietary rubs and sauces, such as Original Hot, Lemon Pepper, and Mango Habanero.