Federated Hermes Inc. Has $116.58 Million Stock Holdings in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. sold 498,775 shares of Wingstop Inc., reducing its stake by 49.1%, resulting in ownership of 516,787 shares valued at approximately $116.58 million.
• Wingstop reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.99, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.84, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 17.4%.
• Analysts have given Wingstop a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a price target of $355.80, reflecting positive outlooks from several investment firms.

Federated Hermes Inc. cut its position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 49.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 516,787 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 498,775 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 1.85% of Wingstop worth $116,577,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Wingstop by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 795 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Wingstop by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 740 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in Wingstop by 62.1% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 141 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in Wingstop by 93.9% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 128 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Wingstop by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 6,023 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Melius assumed coverage on Wingstop in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $350.00 price target for the company. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Wingstop from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Wingstop from $275.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler started coverage on Wingstop in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "overweight" rating for the company. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded Wingstop to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $379.52.

Wingstop Trading Down 3.7%

WING traded down $14.05 on Friday, reaching $363.29. The stock had a trading volume of 904,295 shares, compared to its average volume of 831,304. Wingstop Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $204.00 and a fifty-two week high of $433.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $339.70 and a 200-day moving average of $285.28. The company has a market capitalization of $10.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 1.84.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last issued 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 negative return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 25.61%. The business had revenue of $174.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $172.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This is a boost from Wingstop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Wingstop's payout ratio is currently 18.09%.

Insider Transactions at Wingstop

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

About Wingstop

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.