Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Acquires New Shares in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Key Points

• Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH has acquired 3,340 shares of Wingstop Inc., valued at approximately $753,000, during the first quarter of the year.
• Wingstop reported strong quarterly earnings with $1.00 earnings per share, surpassing analysts' expectations, along with a 12% revenue increase year-over-year.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.30 per share, reflecting a move up from the previous dividend of $0.27, with a payout ratio of 18.09%.

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,340 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $753,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in Wingstop by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $469,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Wingstop by 40.8% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 16,960 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $4,820,000 after purchasing an additional 4,918 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,229 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,202,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 238,942 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $67,907,000 after buying an additional 7,899 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Wingstop by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 74,214 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $21,092,000 after purchasing an additional 2,273 shares during the last quarter.

Wingstop Stock Performance

Shares of Wingstop stock traded down $14.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $362.45. 1,199,950 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 830,949. Wingstop Inc. has a 12 month low of $204.00 and a 12 month high of $433.86. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $340.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $286.07. The company has a market capitalization of $10.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.84.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $172.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. This is an increase from Wingstop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Wingstop's payout ratio is 18.00%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $2,030,886.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,362 shares in the company, valued at $3,144,864.58. This trade represents a 39.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marisa Carona sold 11,938 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.34, for a total transaction of $4,421,118.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,475 shares of company stock worth $11,665,881 in the last quarter. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WING. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Wingstop in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Wingstop from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday. William Blair initiated coverage on Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Melius initiated coverage on Wingstop in a report on Monday, July 14th. They set a "hold" rating and a $350.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Wingstop from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.