Wingstop Inc. (WING) Earns Equal Weight Rating from Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC reissued their equal weight rating on shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) in a research report report published on Friday, August 4th. They currently have a $34.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock, up from their previous price target of $32.00.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on WING. Cowen and Company reissued an outperform rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Sunday, April 23rd. Wedbush reissued a buy rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Thursday, July 6th. Jefferies Group LLC reissued a hold rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. BidaskClub downgraded shares of Wingstop from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, July 13th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Wingstop from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $34.50.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) opened at 35.08 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $31.46 and a 200-day moving average of $29.37. Wingstop has a 1-year low of $24.74 and a 1-year high of $35.49. The company has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 54.73 and a beta of 0.60.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The restaurant operator reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.03. Wingstop had a net margin of 19.28% and a negative return on equity of 28.04%. The company had revenue of $24.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.61 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Wingstop will post $0.73 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 30th.

In other news, Director Sidney J. Feltenstein sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.06, for a total transaction of $781,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 39,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,194,885. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sidney J. Feltenstein sold 15,401 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.08, for a total transaction of $463,262.08. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,195,680. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WING. Pinebridge Investments L.P. boosted its stake in Wingstop by 1.4% in the second quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 3,818 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Wingstop by 0.7% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,100 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in Wingstop by 1.7% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 11,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Municipal Employees Retirement System of Michigan boosted its stake in Wingstop by 3.2% in the second quarter. Municipal Employees Retirement System of Michigan now owns 6,810 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $210,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund boosted its stake in Wingstop by 1.1% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund now owns 20,898 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $591,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the period.

Wingstop Company Profile

Wingstop Inc is franchisor and operator of restaurants that specializes in cooked-to-order, hand-sauced and tossed chicken wings. The Company operates through two segments: Franchise and Company. As of December 31, 2016, the Company offers its guests 11 flavors on bone-in and boneless chicken wings paired with hand-cut, seasoned fries and sides.