Wedbush Analysts Raise Earnings Estimates for Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) – Research analysts at Wedbush boosted their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for shares of Wingstop in a research note issued on Monday, September 16th. Wedbush analyst N. Setyan now anticipates that the restaurant operator will post earnings per share of $1.16 for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $1.10. Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $440.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Wingstop’s current full-year earnings is $3.77 per share.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on WING. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Wingstop from $353.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Wingstop from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Wingstop from $407.00 to $458.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wingstop currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $379.53.

Wingstop Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ WING opened at $421.53 on Thursday. Wingstop has a 12-month low of $166.65 and a 12-month high of $431.03. The company has a market cap of $12.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 150.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 1.71. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $380.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $380.66.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $155.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $146.04 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 17.33% and a negative return on equity of 21.18%. Wingstop’s revenue was up 45.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This is a boost from Wingstop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.26%. Wingstop’s payout ratio is 38.43%.

Insider Transactions at Wingstop

In related news, SVP Donnie Upshaw sold 3,199 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $372.71, for a total transaction of $1,192,299.29. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 97 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,152.87. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WING. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new stake in Wingstop during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wingstop in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wingstop during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in shares of Wingstop by 60.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 93 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Wingstop by 53.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 115 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period.

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.