Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Upgraded at Northcoast Research

Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Northcoast Research currently has $300.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock.

WING has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Wingstop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $296.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Piper Sandler began coverage on Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded Wingstop from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Wingstop from $275.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $335.96.

Wingstop Stock Down 2.6%

NASDAQ:WING opened at $238.18 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $6.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.73. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $259.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $300.54. Wingstop has a fifty-two week low of $204.00 and a fifty-two week high of $388.14.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $175.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.10 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 25.51%.The company’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Wingstop will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.54%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wingstop

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WING. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Wingstop by 43.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,646,934 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $371,517,000 after buying an additional 496,717 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Wingstop by 23.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,557,383 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $524,433,000 after acquiring an additional 294,786 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Wingstop by 50.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 949,033 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $238,853,000 after purchasing an additional 316,328 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Wingstop in the first quarter worth approximately $212,672,000. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Wingstop by 17.3% in the second quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 741,097 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $249,557,000 after purchasing an additional 109,108 shares during the period.

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.