Stifel Nicolaus Has Lowered Expectations for Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Stock Price

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) had its price objective cut by investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $375.00 to $350.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 49.08% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on WING. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $389.00 to $375.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. 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 research report on Friday, November 8th. TD Securities reduced their price target on Wingstop from $365.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. BTIG Research raised Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Wingstop from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $357.67.

Wingstop Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WING opened at $234.78 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.81. Wingstop has a 52 week low of $219.12 and a 52 week high of $433.86. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $283.06 and a 200 day moving average of $335.51.

Wingstop announced that its board has approved 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 repurchase up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wingstop

In other news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 902 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 53.8% during the 3rd 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. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its position in shares of Wingstop by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 11,523 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,794,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Wingstop by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 91 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in shares of Wingstop by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 143 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter.

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.