Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Given Overweight Rating at Stephens

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Stephens in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $468.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock. Stephens’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 37.61% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on WING. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Wingstop from $450.00 to $365.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $390.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Wingstop from $470.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Northcoast Research upgraded Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.74.

Wingstop Stock Performance

Wingstop stock traded up $2.79 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $340.09. 495,040 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 461,067. Wingstop has a fifty-two week low of $240.60 and a fifty-two week high of $433.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $354.08 and its 200-day moving average is $378.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.15, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.78.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $162.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.24 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 22.69% and a net margin of 17.05%. The business’s revenue was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.69 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Wingstop will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wingstop

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Wingstop by 284.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 383,184 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $161,957,000 after acquiring an additional 283,412 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Wingstop by 984.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 217,946 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $90,683,000 after purchasing an additional 197,853 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Wingstop by 36.6% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 602,990 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $254,860,000 after purchasing an additional 161,600 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 392.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 184,068 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $76,587,000 after buying an additional 146,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 40.8% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 465,368 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $193,630,000 after acquiring an additional 134,802 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.