NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Sells 1,377 Shares of Wingstop Inc. $WING

Key Points

• NorthCrest Asset Management LLC reduced its Wingstop holdings by 24.3% to a total of 4,300 shares worth approximately $1.41 million in the second quarter.
• Insider sales included CEO Michael Skipworth selling 4,500 shares for $1.67 million and CFO Alex Kaleida selling 5,400 shares for $2.03 million on August 1st, indicating a significant decrease in their ownership.
• Analysts have raised their target prices for Wingstop stock, with an average target price now at $380.52 and many rating the stock as a "buy" or "outperform."

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC reduced its stake in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 24.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,300 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 1,377 shares during the quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC's holdings in Wingstop were worth $1,407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WING. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Wingstop during the 1st quarter valued at $212,672,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Wingstop by 43.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,646,934 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $371,517,000 after buying an additional 496,717 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Wingstop by 130.7% in the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 631,989 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $142,564,000 after buying an additional 358,044 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Wingstop by 64.4% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 550,879 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $123,295,000 after buying an additional 215,816 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Wingstop by 66.3% in the 1st quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 446,601 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $100,744,000 after buying an additional 178,041 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WING has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $367.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $410.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Wingstop from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Wingstop from $405.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Wingstop has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $380.52.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of WING traded down $2.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $253.55. The stock had a trading volume of 1,031,006 shares, compared to its average volume of 849,124. Wingstop Inc. has a 52 week low of $204.00 and a 52 week high of $433.86. The company's fifty day moving average is $316.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.12. Wingstop had a net margin of 25.61% and a negative return on equity of 17.07%. The firm had revenue of $174.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. The company's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wingstop news, SVP Marisa Carona sold 11,938 shares of the 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 42,777 shares in the company, valued at $15,842,034.18. This trade represents a 9.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,838 shares of company stock valued at $8,118,535 in the last 90 days. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.