Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Boosts Position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 61.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,593 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 1,366 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Wingstop were worth $810,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in Wingstop by 93.9% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 128 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Wingstop by 106.9% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 149 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in Wingstop by 62.1% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 141 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Wingstop during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Wingstop during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000.

Wingstop Trading Down 2.9%

WING stock traded down $10.10 on Tuesday, hitting $338.57. 697,717 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 839,228. The stock has a market cap of $9.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.43, a P/E/G ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 1.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $341.03 and a 200-day moving average of $286.60. Wingstop Inc. has a 1-year low of $204.00 and a 1-year high of $433.86.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $174.33 million during 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 business's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is a positive change from Wingstop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.00%.

Insider Transactions at Wingstop

In other Wingstop news, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 4,500 shares of Wingstop 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Marisa Carona sold 11,938 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,838 shares of company stock worth $11,491,935 in the last quarter. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on WING. BTIG Research raised their price target on Wingstop from $350.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Wingstop from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Wingstop from $275.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $440.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Westpark Capital upgraded Wingstop to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $379.52.

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.