Northcoast Research Downgrades Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) to Neutral

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) was downgraded by research analysts at Northcoast Research from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Wingstop from $389.00 to $375.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Wingstop from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $458.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Benchmark cut their price objective on Wingstop from $340.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective (down from $375.00) on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $367.05.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WING opened at $247.09 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $290.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $341.28. Wingstop has a one year low of $242.58 and a one year high of $433.86. The firm has a market cap of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.81.

Wingstop declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Wingstop

In other news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,285.08. This represents a 50.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WING. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 277.5% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,771 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,356,000 after buying an additional 3,507 shares during the period. Conway Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wingstop during the third quarter valued at about $3,544,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Wingstop during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,010,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Wingstop by 40.8% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 465,368 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $193,630,000 after buying an additional 134,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the 3rd quarter worth about $874,000.

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.