Wingstop Inc. $WING Shares Acquired by Diversified Trust Co

Key Points

• Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in Wingstop Inc. by 27.8%, bringing its total shares to 5,720, with a value of approximately $1.93 million.
• Wingstop reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.00 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.88, with revenues of $174.33 million.
• The company has increased its quarterly dividend from $0.27 to $0.30, translating to an annualized yield of 0.5% and a payout ratio of 20.00%.

Diversified Trust Co increased its position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 27.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,720 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 1,246 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co's holdings in Wingstop were worth $1,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wedmont Private Capital bought a new stake in Wingstop during the first quarter worth approximately $269,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Wingstop by 66.3% during the 1st quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 446,601 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $100,744,000 after purchasing an additional 178,041 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in Wingstop by 289.2% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 18,595 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $4,514,000 after purchasing an additional 13,817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Wingstop by 167.4% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,035 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $459,000 after buying an additional 1,274 shares during the period.

Insider Transactions at Wingstop

In other news, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 4,500 shares of the business'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 $1,666,530.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 value of $4,421,118.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,838 shares of company stock worth $8,118,535 over the last three months. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wingstop Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:WING traded down $2.32 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $253.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,031,006 shares, compared to its average volume of 851,647. Wingstop Inc. has a twelve month low of $204.00 and a twelve month high of $433.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.08 billion, a PE ratio of 42.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $316.33 and a 200 day moving average of $295.06.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $174.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $172.60 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 25.61% and a negative return on equity of 17.07%. Wingstop's revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This is an increase from Wingstop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WING. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Wingstop from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Wingstop from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of Wingstop from $350.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Wingstop in a report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Wingstop has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $380.52.

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.