Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) Short Interest Up 36.1% in December

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. Based on an average daily volume of 518,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days. Approximately 6.2% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WING has been the subject of several recent research reports. Benchmark raised shares of Wingstop from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $340.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $390.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Wingstop from $450.00 to $365.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $458.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wingstop

In related 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Wingstop in the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Wingstop during the third quarter worth $36,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in Wingstop by 60.6% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 106 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in 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 Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ WING opened at $285.37 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.34 billion, a PE ratio of 83.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.78. Wingstop has a 12-month low of $241.78 and a 12-month high of $433.86. The company has a 50-day moving average of $324.38 and a 200 day moving average of $370.09.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.09). Wingstop had a net margin of 17.05% and a negative return on equity of 22.69%. The company had revenue of $162.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.69 earnings per share. Wingstop’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Wingstop will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

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

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.