12 West Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in Wingstop Inc. $WING

Key Points

• 12 West Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Wingstop Inc., purchasing 114,000 shares valued at approximately $25.7 million, making it the 9th largest position in their portfolio.
• Wingstop recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, increasing from $0.27, which represents an annualized yield of 0.4%.
• Analyst ratings for Wingstop have improved significantly, with several upgrades leading to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $379.52.

12 West Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 114,000 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $25,716,000. Wingstop makes up about 3.8% of 12 West Capital Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. 12 West Capital Management LP owned about 0.41% of Wingstop as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 93.9% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 128 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Wingstop by 106.9% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 149 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in Wingstop by 62.1% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 141 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Wingstop by 280.3% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI bought a new position in Wingstop in the 1st quarter worth $70,000.

Wingstop Stock Up 0.3%

WING traded up $0.97 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $309.79. 353,843 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 737,585. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.87. Wingstop Inc. has a one year low of $204.00 and a one year high of $433.86. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $328.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $291.91.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $174.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $172.60 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 25.61% and a negative return on equity of 17.07%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a positive change from Wingstop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Wingstop's payout ratio is currently 20.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WING has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Wingstop from $410.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Melius started coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They set a "hold" rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Wingstop from $350.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $440.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Wingstop from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wingstop has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $379.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wingstop news, CFO Alex Kaleida sold 5,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.09, for a total transaction of $2,030,886.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,144,864.58. This represents a 39.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.34, for a total transaction of $1,666,530.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 42,777 shares in the company, valued at $15,842,034.18. This represents a 9.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,838 shares of company stock valued at $8,118,535. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.