Wingstop Restaurants, Inc. Gets Trading Off With Bang

Wingstop Restaurants, Inc.

climbed 60 percent during the first hours of trading following the restaurant chain's initial public offering launch Friday. The company, which filed for the offering in March, priced its 5.8 million shares in the offer earlier at $19 a piece, well above a previously indicated range of $12 to $14. Wingstop changed hands recently at $30.36 and earlier had traded as high as $31.99. Other recently hot restaurant IPOS include last month's Bojangles Inc

, January's Shake Shack Inc.

, and Habit Restaurants Inc

in November. The Richardson, Texas-based Wingstop operated 712 mostly franchised restaurants as of December, and says it pioneered the concept of wings as a "center-of-the-plate" item. Individual "combo meals" start at $8. Loyal customers in the 18-34 year-old age group produced positive domestic same store sales for 11 consecutive years through 2014, according to Wingstop, while its restaurant count grew at a 15.3 percent compounded annual rate during the same period. Revenue last year grew 14.3 percent to $67.4 million, while adjusted EBITDA increased by 25 percent to $24.4 million. Wingstop is selling 2.15 million shares and Roark Capital Partners will sell 3.65 million. The deal includes an overallotment option for underwriters, who may acquire an additional 870,000 shares. Roark, which acquired Wingstop about five years ago, will hold a 60 percent stake following the IPO.