73,165 Shares in Wingstop Inc. $WING Acquired by Bwcp LP

Key Points

• Bwcp LP has acquired 73,165 shares of Wingstop Inc. valued at approximately $16.5 million, which constitutes about 3.3% of its total holdings.
• Analysts have a Moderate Buy average rating for Wingstop, with various firms adjusting price targets upward, including Wells Fargo raising theirs to $415.
• Wingstop has announced an increase in their quarterly dividend from $0.27 to $0.30 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 0.4%.

Bwcp LP acquired a new position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 73,165 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $16,505,000. Wingstop comprises about 3.3% of Bwcp LP's holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Bwcp LP owned 0.26% of Wingstop at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WING. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 760.9% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 381,745 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $108,497,000 after buying an additional 337,401 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,547 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,008,000 after buying an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 182.7% in the fourth quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 10,535 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,994,000 after buying an additional 6,808 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,144 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $894,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 20,152 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $5,727,000 after buying an additional 3,135 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WING. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Westpark Capital raised shares of Wingstop to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Wingstop from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 10th. Melius initiated coverage on shares of Wingstop in a report on Monday, July 14th. They set a "hold" rating and a $350.00 price target on the stock. Finally, William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $379.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wingstop

In related news, SVP Marisa Carona sold 11,938 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.34, for a total transaction of $4,421,118.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.34, for a total value of $1,666,530.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 42,777 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,842,034.18. The trade was a 9.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,838 shares of company stock valued at $8,118,535 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WING opened at $318.61 on Wednesday. Wingstop Inc. has a 1-year low of $204.00 and a 1-year high of $433.86. The company has a market capitalization of $8.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.10, a P/E/G ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 1.87. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $330.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $291.45.

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

Wingstop Increases Dividend

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

Wingstop Company 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.

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