Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Trading Down 5.6% - Time to Sell?

Shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) fell 5.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $303.71 and last traded at $304.90. 313,632 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 459,072 shares. The stock had previously closed at $322.89.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WING shares. Citigroup raised their price target on Wingstop from $417.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Wingstop from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $350.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BTIG Research raised shares of Wingstop from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $370.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Wingstop from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $458.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Wingstop from $470.00 to $380.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Wingstop currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $368.74.

Wingstop Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $8.80 billion, a PE ratio of 87.85, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.78. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $344.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $376.56.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $160.24 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 22.69% and a net margin of 17.05%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.69 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.49%.

Wingstop declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wingstop 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 transaction of $86,285.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 266 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $86,285.08. The trade was a 50.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its holdings in Wingstop by 5.0% in the third quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 547 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Wingstop by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 821 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Wingstop by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 752 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its stake in Wingstop by 53.8% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 100 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in Wingstop by 0.3% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 11,523 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $4,794,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter.

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.