Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 4,280 Shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 91.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,946 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 4,280 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Wingstop were worth $2,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 9,735 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital bought a new stake in Wingstop in the first quarter worth $269,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its stake in Wingstop by 79.2% during the 1st quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 6,111 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,379,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in Wingstop by 167.4% during 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. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Wingstop by 16.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 79,225 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $17,872,000 after buying an additional 11,329 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on WING. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $440.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Westpark Capital upgraded Wingstop to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $367.00 price objective (up from $350.00) on shares of Wingstop in a report on Monday, July 14th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Wingstop from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $274.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "overweight" rating for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $355.80.

Insider Activity at Wingstop

In related news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 637 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.07, for a total value of $173,945.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,177.19. This represents a 55.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.34, for a total transaction of $3,373,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 47,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,919,074.60. This trade represents a 17.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wingstop Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ WING traded down $6.77 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $322.57. 525,425 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 657,299. The firm has a market cap of $9.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.03, a PEG ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 1.84. Wingstop Inc. has a twelve month low of $204.00 and a twelve month high of $433.86. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $338.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $282.90.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $171.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.25 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 26.45%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.09%.

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.