Morgan Stanley Raises Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Price Target to $315.00

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) had its price target raised by Morgan Stanley from $280.00 to $315.00 in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

WING has been the subject of several other research reports. TD Cowen restated a buy rating and issued a $410.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial reissued a hold rating and issued a $292.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a report on Monday, April 1st. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Stephens began coverage on Wingstop in a research note on Friday. They issued an overweight rating and a $425.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Wingstop from $235.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wingstop has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $271.83.

Wingstop Stock Performance

Shares of WING stock opened at $358.85 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 152.70, a P/E/G ratio of 6.48 and a beta of 1.68. Wingstop has a 52 week low of $150.08 and a 52 week high of $379.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $343.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $270.65.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The restaurant operator reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.07. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 15.25%. The business had revenue of $127.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. Wingstop’s revenue was up 21.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Wingstop will post 3 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.25%. Wingstop’s payout ratio is presently 37.45%.

Insider Transactions at Wingstop

In related news, SVP Marisa Carona sold 2,586 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.96, for a total transaction of $961,888.56. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,646 shares in the company, valued at $612,246.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Wingstop news, SVP Marisa Carona sold 2,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.96, for a total value of $961,888.56. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $612,246.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kilandigalu Madati sold 1,472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.87, for a total value of $500,288.64. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,852,291.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,901 shares of company stock valued at $5,120,605. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WING. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Wingstop by 1,176.9% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 899,336 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $123,767,000 after purchasing an additional 828,904 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wingstop by 155.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 873,385 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $224,093,000 after acquiring an additional 531,880 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Wingstop during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,571,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its position in Wingstop by 64.3% during the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,079,939 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $194,216,000 after purchasing an additional 422,727 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in Wingstop in the fourth quarter worth approximately $103,899,000.

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.