Wingstop Inc (NASDAQ:WING) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totalling 3,177,000 shares, a growth of 12.3% from the February 27th total of 2,830,000 shares. Currently, 10.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 556,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.7 days.
A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on WING shares. ValuEngine raised shares of Wingstop from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Co upped their price target on shares of Wingstop from $106.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $103.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Wingstop currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $101.39.
NASDAQ:WING opened at $80.52 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 116.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50-day moving average is $81.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.93. Wingstop has a 12-month low of $44.27 and a 12-month high of $107.43.
Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $53.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $53.07 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 10.26% and a negative return on equity of 10.13%. Wingstop’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Wingstop will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.27%.
In other Wingstop news, CEO Charles R. Morrison sold 35,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.87, for a total value of $2,840,558.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,054,728.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Madison Jobe sold 957 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.87, for a total transaction of $77,392.59. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,312 shares in the company, valued at $591,321.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,292 shares of company stock worth $2,933,836 over the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advisory Services Network LLC increased its stake in shares of Wingstop by 228.0% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 410 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Coastal Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Wingstop by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Coastal Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,234 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Wingstop during the 3rd quarter valued at about $153,000. Procyon Private Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wingstop during the 4th quarter valued at about $153,000. Finally, NumerixS Investment Technologies Inc increased its stake in shares of Wingstop by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. NumerixS Investment Technologies Inc now owns 1,899 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the last quarter.
Wingstop Company Profile
Wingstop Inc, together with its subsidiaries, franchises and operates restaurants under the Wingstop brand name. Its restaurants offer cooked-to-order, hand-sauced, and tossed chicken wings. As of December 29, 2018, the company operated approximately 1,252 restaurants in the United States, Mexico, Panama, Singapore, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and Colombia.