Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) Stake Boosted by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 23.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,522 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 17,576 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.31% of Wingstop worth $26,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wingstop by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,206,062 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $342,763,000 after purchasing an additional 22,552 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Wingstop by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,150,217 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $326,893,000 after purchasing an additional 262,229 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Wingstop by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 801,732 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $227,852,000 after purchasing an additional 154,055 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Wingstop by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 573,999 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $163,131,000 after purchasing an additional 101,247 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Wingstop by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 547,831 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $155,694,000 after purchasing an additional 14,124 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WING. Benchmark lowered their price target on shares of Wingstop from $340.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Wingstop from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $274.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $330.00 price objective (down from $375.00) on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $339.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 637 shares of Wingstop 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 517 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $141,177.19. This trade represents a 55.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WING traded up $16.23 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $338.70. 683,044 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 624,514. Wingstop Inc. has a 52 week low of $204.00 and a 52 week high of $433.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $252.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $275.14. The company has a market cap of $9.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.29, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.80.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.15. Wingstop had a net margin of 17.37% and a negative return on equity of 21.59%. The business had revenue of $171.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $172.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Wingstop's payout ratio is currently 18.09%.

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.