Stephens Reaffirms “Overweight” Rating for Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING)

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reissued by equities researchers at Stephens in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $468.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock. Stephens’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 42.77% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on WING. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Wingstop from $450.00 to $365.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Wingstop from $375.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $390.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Benchmark raised Wingstop from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Northcoast Research raised Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.74.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WING opened at $327.80 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $350.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $377.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.58 billion, a PE ratio of 95.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.78. Wingstop has a 1 year low of $240.60 and a 1 year high of $433.86.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 negative return on equity of 22.69% and a net margin of 17.05%. The business’s revenue was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Wingstop will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WING. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 60.6% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 106 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 384.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 126 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period.

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.