Wasatch Advisors LP Acquires 212,730 Shares of Wingstop Inc. $WING

Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 59.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 572,082 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 212,730 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $88,656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WING. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Wingstop by 76.9% during the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 138 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in Wingstop by 197.9% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 143 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Wingstop by 75.7% in the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 188 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Wingstop in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Wingstop by 121.4% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 217 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler raised shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $283.00 to $190.00 in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Wingstop in a report on Monday, March 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho set a $280.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a report on Friday, June 5th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of Wingstop from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and cut their target price for the company from $325.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $260.89.

Wingstop Trading Up 0.8%

NASDAQ:WING opened at $166.76 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $153.82 and its 200 day moving average is $205.77. Wingstop Inc. has a 12 month low of $116.35 and a 12 month high of $381.45. The company has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.82.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 15.77%.The business had revenue of $183.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $187.82 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.85%.

Wingstop Company Profile

Wingstop Inc (NASDAQ: WING) is a fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in chicken wings and related menu items. Founded in 1994 in Garland, Texas, the company has built its brand around bold, chef-inspired wing flavors and a streamlined service model that caters to dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering orders.

The company’s core offerings include both bone-in and boneless chicken wings tossed in a variety of proprietary rubs and sauces, such as Original Hot, Lemon Pepper, and Mango Habanero.