Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,810,000 shares, an increase of 36.1% from the November 30th total of 1,330,000 shares. Approximately 6.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 518,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WING shares. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Wingstop from $375.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $468.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $458.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. BTIG Research raised shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Benchmark upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $340.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Wingstop currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.74.

Wingstop Trading Down 1.9 %

WING stock opened at $285.37 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.20, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.78. Wingstop has a twelve month low of $241.78 and a twelve month high of $433.86. The company’s 50 day moving average is $324.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $370.09.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.09). Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 22.69% and a net margin of 17.05%. The company had revenue of $162.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.69 earnings per share. Wingstop’s revenue was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Wingstop will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Wingstop’s payout ratio is currently 31.49%.

Wingstop declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wingstop

In other Wingstop news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.38, for a total transaction of $86,285.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 266 shares in the company, valued at $86,285.08. This represents a 50.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Wingstop in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Wingstop during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in Wingstop by 60.6% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 106 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Wingstop by 384.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 126 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 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.