Invesco Ltd. Sells 420,574 Shares of Wingstop Inc. $WING

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. reduced its stake in Wingstop Inc. by 80.7%, selling 420,574 shares, and now holds 100,303 shares valued at approximately $22.6 million.
• Wingstop announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.30 per share, scheduled for payment on September 5th, reflecting a 11.1% rise from the previous dividend.
• Wall Street analysts have a consensus target price of $379.52 for Wingstop's stock, with many rating it as a "Moderate Buy" amid favorable earnings results for the company.

Invesco Ltd. decreased its stake in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 80.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 100,303 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 420,574 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned about 0.36% of Wingstop worth $22,626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 29.5% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 527 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $119,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new position in shares of Wingstop in the 1st quarter worth $70,000. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 100.5% in the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 3,337 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $753,000 after buying an additional 1,673 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 4,413 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $995,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 220,614 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $49,766,000 after purchasing an additional 16,373 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at Wingstop

In other news, 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 value of $4,421,118.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Alex Kaleida sold 5,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.09, for a total transaction of $2,030,886.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,144,864.58. This represents a 39.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,838 shares of company stock worth $11,491,935. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Wingstop Trading Down 0.5%

Wingstop stock opened at $329.26 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $334.82 and a 200-day moving average of $290.20. The firm has a market cap of $9.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 1.84. Wingstop Inc. has a 1-year low of $204.00 and a 1-year high of $433.86.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $174.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.60 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 25.61% and a negative return on equity of 17.07%. Wingstop's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on WING. Benchmark increased their target price on shares of Wingstop from $325.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Wingstop from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Wingstop from $335.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Wingstop from $275.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $379.52.

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.

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