Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Sells 31,900 Shares of Wingstop Inc. $WING

Key Points

• Canada Pension Plan Investment Board sold 31,900 shares of Wingstop Inc., reducing its holdings by 58.6% to 22,500 shares valued at approximately $5,076,000.
• Wingstop reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' estimates and showing a 12.0% year-over-year revenue growth of $174.33 million.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.30 per share, with the dividend payout ratio at 20.00% and expected payment date on September 5th.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lowered its position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 58.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,500 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 31,900 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.08% of Wingstop worth $5,076,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Wingstop by 36.0% in the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 36,780 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $10,453,000 after acquiring an additional 9,735 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new stake in Wingstop in the first quarter valued at $269,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its position in shares of Wingstop by 79.2% in the first quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 6,111 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Wingstop by 66.3% in the first quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 446,601 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $100,744,000 after purchasing an additional 178,041 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Wingstop by 167.4% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,035 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 1,274 shares during the period.

Wingstop Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:WING traded up $0.97 on Friday, reaching $309.79. 353,843 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 737,585. The company has a fifty day moving average of $328.02 and a 200-day moving average of $291.91. Wingstop Inc. has a twelve month low of $204.00 and a twelve month high of $433.86. The company has a market capitalization of $8.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.63, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.87.

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 firm had revenue of $174.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. The business's revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This is a boost from Wingstop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wingstop 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 transaction of $1,666,530.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 42,777 shares in the company, valued at $15,842,034.18. This 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, SVP Marisa Carona sold 11,938 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 a total of 21,838 shares of company stock worth $8,118,535 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $325.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Melius assumed coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $350.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $296.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.