T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Wingstop Inc. $WING

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. has acquired a new position in Wingstop Inc. by purchasing 942,777 shares valued at approximately $212.67 million, representing 3.38% of the company's total shares.
• Wingstop will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, which is an increase from the previous dividend of $0.27, with the dividend yielding 0.4% annually.
• Insider trading activity includes CFO Alex Kaleida selling 5,400 shares and CEO Michael Skipworth selling 10,000 shares, indicating significant decreases in their respective ownership stakes of 39.24% and 17.49%.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 942,777 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $212,672,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 3.38% of Wingstop at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of Wingstop by 93.9% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 128 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 106.9% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 149 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Wingstop by 62.1% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 141 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Wingstop in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Wingstop by 280.3% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Alex Kaleida sold 5,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.09, for a total value of $2,030,886.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 8,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,144,864.58. This trade represents a 39.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.34, for a total transaction of $3,373,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 47,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,919,074.60. This trade represents a 17.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 31,838 shares of company stock valued at $11,491,935. Insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Wingstop Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of Wingstop stock opened at $329.26 on Thursday. Wingstop Inc. has a twelve month low of $204.00 and a twelve month high of $433.86. The company's 50 day moving average is $334.82 and its 200 day moving average is $290.20. The company has a market cap of $9.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 1.84.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.12. The business 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This is a positive change 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 is Friday, August 15th. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on WING. Melius assumed coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They set a "hold" rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Wingstop from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $274.00 to $400.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Wingstop from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $420.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, August 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Wingstop from $275.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $440.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four research 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.com, Wingstop presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $379.52.

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.

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