Benchmark Reiterates “Hold” Rating for Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING)

Benchmark restated their hold rating on shares of Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on WING. Wedbush upped their price target on Wingstop from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Stephens assumed coverage on Wingstop in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They issued an overweight rating and a $425.00 price target for the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Wingstop from $320.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. They issued an outperform rating and a $340.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Wingstop from $280.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $294.17.

Wingstop Trading Up 3.4 %

Wingstop stock opened at $382.56 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $353.29 and a 200 day moving average of $279.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 162.79, a P/E/G ratio of 6.27 and a beta of 1.68. Wingstop has a 12-month low of $150.08 and a 12-month high of $383.98.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The restaurant operator reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $127.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.47 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 15.25% and a negative return on equity of 17.66%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Wingstop will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.23%. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kilandigalu Madati sold 1,472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.87, for a total value of $500,288.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,450 shares in the company, valued at $1,852,291.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Kilandigalu Madati sold 1,472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.87, for a total value of $500,288.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,450 shares in the company, valued at $1,852,291.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Marisa Carona sold 2,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.96, for a total value of $961,888.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $612,246.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,901 shares of company stock worth $5,120,605 over the last three months. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Wingstop

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Wingstop in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Wingstop in the first quarter worth $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Wingstop in the third quarter worth $38,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Wingstop in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Wingstop by 53.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 115 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 40 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.