Benchmark Reiterates “Hold” Rating for Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING)

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Benchmark in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports.

WING has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $340.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $235.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $320.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Stephens started coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $425.00 price objective on the stock. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $290.83.

Wingstop Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WING opened at $362.74 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $351.10 and a 200-day moving average of $278.19. The company has a market capitalization of $10.65 billion, a PE ratio of 154.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.27 and a beta of 1.68. Wingstop has a 52-week low of $150.08 and a 52-week high of $379.00.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The restaurant operator reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $127.06 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $120.47 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 15.25% and a negative return on equity of 17.66%. Wingstop’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Wingstop will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total transaction of $3,658,428.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,771,901.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Kilandigalu Madati sold 1,472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.87, for a total transaction of $500,288.64. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,450 shares in the company, valued at $1,852,291.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,843 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total transaction of $3,658,428.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 17,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,771,901.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,901 shares of company stock valued at $5,120,605 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wingstop during the first quarter valued at approximately $278,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 2.4% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 8,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,114,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wingstop during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,250,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 123.6% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 6,888 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,524,000 after buying an additional 3,808 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 10.0% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 21,440 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,856,000 after buying an additional 1,951 shares during the last quarter.

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.