Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Rating Reiterated by Benchmark

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reissued by stock analysts at Benchmark in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports.

WING has been the subject of several other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $340.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Wingstop from $320.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $410.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $235.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Wingstop from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Wingstop presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $330.39.

Wingstop Stock Performance

WING stock traded up $7.01 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $388.55. 510,680 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 532,882. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.41 billion, a PE ratio of 138.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.30 and a beta of 1.67. Wingstop has a 52 week low of $150.08 and a 52 week high of $396.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $360.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $288.00.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.22. Wingstop had a net margin of 16.75% and a negative return on equity of 19.64%. The business had revenue of $145.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $136.34 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. Wingstop’s revenue was up 34.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Wingstop will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Wingstop

In related news, Director Kilandigalu Madati sold 1,472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.87, for a total value of $500,288.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,852,291.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Wingstop news, Director Kilandigalu Madati sold 1,472 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.87, for a total value of $500,288.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,852,291.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total value of $3,658,428.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,107 shares in the company, valued at $5,771,901.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,901 shares of company stock valued at $5,120,605. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 155.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 873,385 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $224,093,000 after purchasing an additional 531,880 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its position in Wingstop by 64.3% in the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,079,939 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $194,216,000 after purchasing an additional 422,727 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in shares of Wingstop during the 4th quarter valued at about $103,899,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Wingstop by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,626,558 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $292,520,000 after purchasing an additional 370,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Wingstop in the 4th quarter worth approximately $80,423,000.

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.