Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Shares Up 5.8% – Time to Buy?

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)’s stock price traded up 5.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The company traded as high as $106.78 and last traded at $107.7060. Approximately 727,359 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 39% from the average session volume of 1,185,467 shares. The stock had previously closed at $101.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Wingstop in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Wingstop from $200.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Piper Sandler set a $173.00 price target on Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Wingstop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Wingstop from $160.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.44.

Wingstop Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.79. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $114.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $143.97.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $185.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.25 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 16.15%.The firm’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, September 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is an increase from Wingstop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Wingstop’s payout ratio is currently 31.35%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Wingstop in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $481,314,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Wingstop by 2.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 863,951 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $149,751,000 after acquiring an additional 16,907 shares during the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Wingstop during the second quarter worth $15,874,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Wingstop during the 2nd quarter valued at $80,456,000. Finally, 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 worth $10,614,000 after purchasing an additional 16,764 shares during the last quarter.

About Wingstop

Wingstop Inc is a restaurant company that specializes in made-to-order chicken wings and related menu items. Its offerings include classic and boneless wings prepared with a variety of signature flavors, as well as chicken sandwiches, tenders, seasoned fries, sides, dips and beverages. The company serves customers through dine-in, takeout, delivery and digital ordering channels.

Founded in 1994 in Garland, Texas, Wingstop has developed primarily as a franchised restaurant brand. The company supports its franchisees through brand marketing, restaurant development, operating systems, menu innovation and supply-chain coordination, while franchisees generally own and operate individual locations.