Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Hits New 52-Week Low After Earnings Miss

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) shares hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as low as $266.00 and last traded at $271.81, with a volume of 749284 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $306.02.

The restaurant operator reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by ($0.01). Wingstop had a net margin of 17.05% and a negative return on equity of 22.69%.

Wingstop announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WING has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $468.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Wingstop from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $385.00 to $389.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. 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, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $458.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Wingstop presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wingstop

In other news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.38, for a total value of $86,285.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,285.08. The trade was a 50.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Wingstop

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Wingstop in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $151,802,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the fourth quarter valued at about $115,301,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Wingstop during the 4th quarter worth approximately $106,123,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Wingstop by 760.9% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 381,745 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $108,497,000 after buying an additional 337,401 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wingstop during the fourth quarter worth about $77,855,000.

Wingstop Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $7.90 billion, a PE ratio of 78.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.81. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $293.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $342.48.

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.