Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING), a chicken wing restaurant chain, jumped 60 percent to $30.65 in its trading debut today.
The Dallas-based company priced its initial public offering of 5.8 million shares at $19 a share, above the expected range of $12 to $14, valuing the company at about $543 million.
The IPO raised about $110.2 million at that price. The company owned by private equity firm Roark Capital Group sold 2.15 million shares in the offering.
The company plans to use the money to pay down debt and for a $3.3 million fee to end its management agreement with Roark Capital Management LLC, affiliated with Roark Capital Partners.
Wingstop operates 745 restaurants across 37 U.S. states and five other countries as of March 28. The chain’s number of domestic restaurants has increased 37.5 percent since the end of 2011, while domestic same-store sales grew through 11 straight quarters.
It makes chicken wings in 14 quirky flavors, ranging from the spiciest "atomic" to least-spicy teriyaki.
The company has said its profit increased 19 percent to $9 million for the fiscal year ended in December, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Total revenue increased 14 percent from a year earlier to $67.4 million.
Wingstop, founded in 1994, intended to capitalize on investors' insatiable appetite for fast-casual restaurant stocks. In January, burger chain Shake Shack (NYSE:SHAK) priced its IPO above its previously estimated price range.
The Shake Shack IPO followed a string of successful IPOs by casual dining chains last year, including El Pollo Loco Holdings (NASDAQ:LOCO), Zoe's Kitchen (NYSE:ZOES) and Habit Restaurants (NASDAQ:HABT).
Morgan Stanley, Jefferies and Baird are the lead underwriters for the offering.
Shares of Wingstop Inc. are listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol "WING."