Allianz Asset Management GmbH Trims Stock Position in Wingstop Inc. $WING

Allianz Asset Management GmbH cut its stake in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 15.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,437 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 3,784 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned about 0.08% of Wingstop worth $7,219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WING. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Wingstop in the first quarter valued at $212,672,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Wingstop by 43.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,646,934 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $371,517,000 after acquiring an additional 496,717 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Wingstop by 130.7% in the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 631,989 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $142,564,000 after acquiring an additional 358,044 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 64.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 550,879 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $123,295,000 after buying an additional 215,816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 66.3% during the first quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 446,601 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $100,744,000 after buying an additional 178,041 shares during the period.

Wingstop Stock Performance

Wingstop stock opened at $262.89 on Thursday. Wingstop Inc. has a one year low of $204.00 and a one year high of $388.14. The business has a fifty day moving average of $281.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $298.99. The company has a market cap of $7.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.78.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.12. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 25.61%.The company had revenue of $174.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. Wingstop's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This is a positive change from Wingstop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America dropped their price target on Wingstop from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Barclays dropped their target price on Wingstop from $440.00 to $330.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $315.00 price target for the company. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $362.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wingstop

In other news, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.34, for a total transaction of $1,666,530.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 42,777 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,842,034.18. This trade represents a 9.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Alex Kaleida sold 5,400 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.09, for a total value of $2,030,886.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 8,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,144,864.58. This represents a 39.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 21,838 shares of company stock worth $8,118,535. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.

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