Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Shares Down 5.6% Following Insider Selling

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)’s stock price was down 5.6% on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $303.71 and last traded at $304.90. Approximately 313,632 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 32% from the average daily volume of 459,072 shares. The stock had previously closed at $322.89.

Specifically, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.38, for a total value of $86,285.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,285.08. This trade represents a 50.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WING shares. BTIG Research upgraded Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $417.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Wingstop from $450.00 to $365.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Benchmark raised shares of Wingstop from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $340.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Wingstop from $470.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.74.

Wingstop Trading Down 6.7 %

The company has a market cap of $8.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $344.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $376.56.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $162.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.49%.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wingstop

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Driehaus Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 193,307 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $81,703,000 after purchasing an additional 7,600 shares during the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC bought a new stake in Wingstop in the second quarter valued at $2,249,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Wingstop in the third quarter valued at $5,010,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 161,600 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Wingstop by 40.8% during 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 last quarter.

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.