Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC Buys Shares of 1,498 Wingstop Inc. $WING

Key Points

• Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC has acquired 1,498 shares of Wingstop Inc., valued at approximately $338,000, marking a new stake according to their recent SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors, including Captrust Financial Advisors and Deutsche Bank AG, increased their stakes in Wingstop during the fourth quarter, showcasing growing institutional interest.
• Wingstop recently declared a quarterly dividend increase from $0.27 to $0.30 per share, reflecting a 0.4% annualized yield and a 20% payout ratio.

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,498 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $338,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Wingstop by 93.9% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 128 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 62.1% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 141 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 106.9% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 149 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 280.3% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI bought a new position in shares of Wingstop in the first quarter valued at $70,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WING. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $275.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $350.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. 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 research note on Friday, July 18th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $335.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target 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 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $380.52.

Wingstop Trading Down 5.7%

Shares of NASDAQ WING traded down $17.33 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $287.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,890,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 717,505. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $326.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $292.68. Wingstop Inc. has a one year low of $204.00 and a one year high of $433.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.87.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $172.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. Wingstop's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Wingstop

In other Wingstop news, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 42,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,842,034.18. This represents a 9.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Marisa Carona sold 11,938 shares of the company'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 $4,421,118.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,838 shares of company stock worth $8,118,535 in the last three months. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.