Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Given New $325.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) had its price objective upped by BMO Capital Markets from $275.00 to $325.00 in a research report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on WING. Citigroup boosted their price target on Wingstop from $320.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Stephens reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. TD Cowen reissued a buy rating and issued a $410.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $280.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. They issued an outperform rating and a $340.00 target price on the stock. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $330.39.

Wingstop Stock Up 1.8 %

WING opened at $388.55 on Thursday. Wingstop has a 12-month low of $150.08 and a 12-month high of $396.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 138.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 1.67. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $360.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $289.47.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $145.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $136.34 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 16.75% and a negative return on equity of 19.64%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 34.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Wingstop will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wingstop

In other news, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total transaction of $3,658,428.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,107 shares in the company, valued at $5,771,901.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Kilandigalu Madati sold 1,472 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction dated 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 is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total transaction of $3,658,428.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 17,107 shares in the company, valued at $5,771,901.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,901 shares of company stock worth $5,120,605. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WING. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Wingstop by 29.4% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,626,558 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $292,520,000 after acquiring an additional 370,032 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,167,230 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $209,915,000 after purchasing an additional 121,134 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,107,852 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $284,253,000 after purchasing an additional 19,540 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Wingstop by 64.3% in the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,079,939 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $194,216,000 after purchasing an additional 422,727 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wingstop by 155.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 873,385 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $224,093,000 after purchasing an additional 531,880 shares during the period.

Wingstop Company Profile

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.