Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,810,000 shares, an increase of 36.1% from the November 30th total of 1,330,000 shares. Approximately 6.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 518,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on WING shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $458.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Wingstop from $417.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays dropped their target price on Wingstop from $470.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Northcoast Research raised shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wingstop

In other news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.38, for a total transaction of $86,285.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,285.08. The trade was a 50.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new position in Wingstop during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wingstop during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Wingstop by 60.6% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 106 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 384.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 126 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period.

Wingstop Stock Down 1.9 %

WING opened at $285.37 on Friday. Wingstop has a twelve month low of $241.78 and a twelve month high of $433.86. The company has a market cap of $8.34 billion, a PE ratio of 83.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $324.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $370.09.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $162.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.24 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 17.05% and a negative return on equity of 22.69%. Wingstop’s revenue was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.69 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Wingstop will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.49%.

Wingstop announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are 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.