Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Wingstop Inc. $WING

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in Wingstop Inc. by 20.3%, owning 432,370 shares valued at $97.5 million following the purchase of 73,066 additional shares in the 1st quarter.
• Wingstop recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, reflecting a positive change from its previous dividend of $0.27, with a current yield of 0.4%.
• Wingstop's stock has seen significant price target revisions, with analysts from Citigroup, BMO Capital Markets, and Morgan Stanley raising their price targets, indicating strong market performance and optimism.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 20.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 432,370 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 73,066 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 1.55% of Wingstop worth $97,534,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bwcp LP acquired a new stake in Wingstop during the 1st quarter worth $16,505,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Wingstop by 64.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 550,879 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $123,295,000 after purchasing an additional 215,816 shares during the period. Amundi increased its stake in Wingstop by 289.2% in the first 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 period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its stake in Wingstop by 29.8% in the first quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 693,115 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $156,353,000 after purchasing an additional 158,977 shares during the period. Finally, 12 West Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Wingstop in the first quarter valued at $25,716,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Marisa Carona sold 11,938 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.34, for a total transaction of $4,421,118.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 4,500 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 transaction of $1,666,530.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 42,777 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,842,034.18. This trade represents a 9.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,838 shares of company stock valued at $8,118,535. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on WING shares. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $440.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Wingstop from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $420.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "overweight" rating on the stock. UBS Group lifted 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, William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Four research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $379.52.

Wingstop Stock Performance

WING stock traded up $0.97 during trading on Friday, reaching $309.79. 353,843 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 700,325. The company has a market cap of $8.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.63, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.87. Wingstop Inc. has a 52-week low of $204.00 and a 52-week high of $433.86. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $328.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $292.22.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $174.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.60 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 25.61% and a negative return on equity of 17.07%. The firm's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. 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 yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Wingstop's payout ratio is presently 20.00%.

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.