Investors Who Bought Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Shares Three Years Ago Are Now Up 208%
The worst result, after buying shares in a company (assuming no leverage), would be if you lose all the money you put in. But if you buy shares in a really great company, you can more than double your money. For instance the Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) share price is 208% higher than it was three years ago. How nice for those who held the stock! Also pleasing for shareholders was the 17% gain in the last three months. The company reported its financial results recently; you can catch up on the latest numbers by reading our company report.
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View our latest analysis for Wingstop
While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.
During three years of share price growth, Wingstop achieved compound earnings per share growth of 21% per year. This EPS growth is lower than the 45% average annual increase in the share price. This indicates that the market is feeling more optimistic on the stock, after the last few years of progress. That's not necessarily surprising considering the three-year track record of earnings growth. This favorable sentiment is reflected in its (fairly optimistic) P/E ratio of 104.96.
The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).
Before buying or selling a stock, we always recommend a close examination of historic growth trends, available here..
What About Dividends?
It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. We note that for Wingstop the TSR over the last 3 years was 290%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.
A Different Perspective
It's nice to see that Wingstop shareholders have gained 61% (in total) over the last year. That includes the value of the dividend. So this year's TSR was actually better than the three-year TSR (annualized) of 57%. Given the track record of solid returns over varying time frames, it might be worth putting Wingstop on your watchlist. Before spending more time on Wingstop it might be wise to click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling shares.
If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
