Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.02, Zacks reports. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 21.59% and a net margin of 17.37%. The business had revenue of $161.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.66 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. Wingstop's quarterly revenue was up 27.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WING traded down $13.07 on Friday, hitting $234.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,917,904 shares, compared to its average volume of 748,007. The company has a market capitalization of $6.84 billion, a PE ratio of 63.08, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $290.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $341.28. Wingstop has a 1 year low of $232.19 and a 1 year high of $433.86.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.11%.

Wingstop announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WING shares. Barclays reduced their price target on Wingstop from $359.00 to $315.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Benchmark reduced their price target on Wingstop from $340.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Wingstop from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $458.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. BTIG Research raised Wingstop from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $370.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a report on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wingstop currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $367.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.38, for a total value of $86,285.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,285.08. This trade represents a 50.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

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.