Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Upgraded at Guggenheim

Guggenheim upgraded shares of Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Monday, Marketbeat reports. Guggenheim currently has $280.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock.

WING has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Benchmark decreased their target price on Wingstop from $340.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. BTIG Research raised shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $359.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Wedbush decreased their target price on shares of Wingstop from $390.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $362.90.

Wingstop Stock Performance

Shares of WING stock opened at $227.81 on Monday. Wingstop has a fifty-two week low of $227.65 and a fifty-two week high of $433.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $285.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $337.49. The company has a market cap of $6.53 billion, a PE ratio of 61.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.81.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Wingstop’s payout ratio is 29.11%.

Wingstop declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Wingstop

In other news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $86,285.08. This represents a 50.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Wingstop

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WING. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Wingstop during the fourth quarter valued at about $151,802,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Wingstop in the 4th quarter valued at about $115,301,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Wingstop during the 4th quarter valued at about $106,123,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Wingstop by 760.9% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 381,745 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $108,497,000 after purchasing an additional 337,401 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the fourth quarter worth approximately $77,855,000.

About Wingstop

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.