Raymond James Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING)

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by analysts at Raymond James in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $330.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock, down from their prior target price of $375.00. Raymond James’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 13.31% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised Wingstop from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $385.00 to $389.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Wingstop from $417.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $458.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $468.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $383.32.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of WING stock traded down $1.29 on Tuesday, hitting $291.23. 155,219 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 543,741. The company has a 50 day moving average of $302.30 and a 200 day moving average of $350.20. Wingstop has a 12 month low of $266.45 and a 12 month high of $433.86. The stock has a market cap of $8.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.81.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $162.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.24 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 17.05% and a negative return on equity of 22.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.69 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Wingstop will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 buy up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Wingstop

In other news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.38, for a total value of $86,285.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,285.08. This trade represents a 50.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wingstop

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WING. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Wingstop by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $901,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC lifted its position in Wingstop by 33.8% during the 4th quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 815 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Wingstop by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 269,596 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $76,619,000 after acquiring an additional 39,086 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Wingstop during the fourth quarter worth about $205,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Wingstop in the fourth quarter worth about $71,000.

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.