Wedbush Analysts Decrease Earnings Estimates for Wingstop

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) – Research analysts at Wedbush cut their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for Wingstop in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, March 19th. Wedbush analyst N. Setyan now expects that the restaurant operator will earn $0.87 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $0.93. Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $355.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Wingstop’s current full-year earnings is $4.18 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Wingstop’s Q2 2025 earnings at $0.85 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $3.71 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $1.07 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $1.06 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.20 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.25 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $4.62 EPS.

WING has been the subject of a number of other reports. Guggenheim raised Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $280.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 target price (down previously from $375.00) on shares of Wingstop in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Wingstop from $389.00 to $375.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Wingstop from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.67.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WING opened at $215.46 on Thursday. Wingstop has a 1 year low of $205.60 and a 1 year high of $433.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $262.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $318.12.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.11%.

Wingstop declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Wingstop

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WING. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Wingstop by 28.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,770 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 757 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 9.1% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 686 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 6.6% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 13,269 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,521,000 after purchasing an additional 822 shares during the period. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the third quarter worth $245,000.

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.