Benchstone Capital Management LP Has $5.13 Million Stock Holdings in Wingstop Inc. $WING

Key Points

• Benchstone Capital Management LP reduced its position in Wingstop by 56.9% in the first quarter, now holding 22,723 shares worth approximately $5.1 million.
• CEO Michael Skipworth sold 4,500 shares of Wingstop stock for a total of about $1.67 million, reducing his ownership by 9.52%.
• Wingstop announced a quarterly dividend increase, now at $0.30 per share, with a record date of August 15 and expected payment on September 5.

Benchstone Capital Management LP lessened its position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 56.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,723 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 30,053 shares during the quarter. Benchstone Capital Management LP owned about 0.08% of Wingstop worth $5,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 43.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,646,934 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $371,517,000 after purchasing an additional 496,717 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,262,597 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $284,817,000 after purchasing an additional 56,535 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Wingstop during the 1st quarter worth about $212,672,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 130.7% during the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 631,989 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $142,564,000 after purchasing an additional 358,044 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Wingstop during the 4th quarter worth about $151,802,000.

Wingstop Stock Performance

Wingstop stock traded up $4.22 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $322.83. 590,311 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 665,582. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.81, a P/E/G ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 1.87. Wingstop Inc. has a 12 month low of $204.00 and a 12 month high of $433.86. The business's 50-day moving average is $329.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $291.67.

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

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors 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 is Friday, August 15th. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. TD Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $440.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $440.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $379.52.

Insider Activity at Wingstop

In related news, 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 in the company, valued at $15,842,034.18. This represents a 9.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Marisa Carona sold 11,938 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 transaction of $4,421,118.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,838 shares of company stock worth $8,118,535 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

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.