Nuveen LLC Takes $36.39 Million Position in Wingstop Inc. $WING

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC acquired 161,330 shares of Wingstop Inc. during the first quarter, valued at approximately $36.4 million, representing 0.58% of the company's stock.
• Wingstop's stock received multiple upgrades from analysts, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $379.52.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.30 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.4%, payable on September 5th.

Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 161,330 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $36,393,000. Nuveen LLC owned 0.58% of Wingstop at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted 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 valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Wingstop during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 280.3% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WING has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Wingstop from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $420.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Wingstop from $367.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $410.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $440.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $379.52.

Wingstop Price Performance

NASDAQ WING traded down $8.71 on Tuesday, hitting $330.92. The stock had a trading volume of 566,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 824,491. The business's fifty day moving average price is $336.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $289.64. Wingstop Inc. has a 52-week low of $204.00 and a 52-week high of $433.86. The stock has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.84.

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

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This is an increase 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 is Friday, August 15th. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wingstop news, CFO Alex Kaleida sold 5,400 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.09, for a total value of $2,030,886.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,144,864.58. The trade was a 39.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.34, for a total transaction of $3,373,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 47,190 shares in the company, valued at $15,919,074.60. This trade represents a 17.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 31,838 shares of company stock valued at $11,491,935. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wingstop Profile

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.