Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) Declares $0.27 Quarterly Dividend

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 18th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.27 per share by the restaurant operator on Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th.

Wingstop has increased its dividend by an average of 16.5% per year over the last three years. Wingstop has a dividend payout ratio of 19.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Wingstop to earn $4.28 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.2%.

Wingstop Price Performance

NASDAQ WING traded down $17.93 on Thursday, hitting $247.09. 1,947,937 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 727,895. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $291.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $341.94. The company has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.81. Wingstop has a 52-week low of $242.58 and a 52-week high of $433.86.

Insider Activity

In other Wingstop news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 266 shares in the company, valued at $86,285.08. This trade represents a 50.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Wingstop announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a report on Wednesday. BTIG Research raised Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Northcoast Research raised Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $365.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $390.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $367.05.

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.