Wedbush Issues Optimistic Outlook for Wingstop Earnings

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) – Wedbush increased their Q3 2025 EPS estimates for shares of Wingstop in a report issued on Wednesday, March 19th. Wedbush analyst N. Setyan now anticipates that the restaurant operator will earn $0.98 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $0.96. 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 Q4 2025 earnings at $1.02 EPS.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Benchmark reduced their price target on Wingstop from $340.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Guggenheim raised shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $280.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered 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. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $359.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $357.67.

Wingstop Stock Performance

Shares of WING opened at $215.46 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $262.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $318.12. The company 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. Wingstop has a fifty-two week low of $205.60 and a fifty-two week high of $433.86.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WING. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in Wingstop during the 4th quarter valued at about $151,802,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Wingstop during the 4th quarter worth approximately $115,301,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $106,123,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 760.9% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 381,745 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $108,497,000 after purchasing an additional 337,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $77,855,000.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

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

Wingstop declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.