Vestcor Inc Has $1.87 Million Stock Position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc has reduced its stake in Wingstop Inc. by 48.2%, selling 7,693 shares and now holding 8,283 shares, valued at approximately $1.87 million.
• Wingstop recently announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.27 to $0.30 per share, which will be paid to shareholders on September 5th.
• The company's stock opened at $377.34, with a market capitalization of $10.53 billion and analysts projecting a 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Vestcor Inc lowered its position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 48.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,283 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 7,693 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Wingstop were worth $1,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings 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 valued at $326,893,000 after acquiring an additional 262,229 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Wingstop by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 801,732 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $227,852,000 after purchasing an additional 154,055 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Wingstop by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 547,831 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $155,694,000 after purchasing an additional 14,124 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in Wingstop during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $151,802,000. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Wingstop by 66.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 178,041 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "overweight" rating and set a $440.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Wingstop from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Wingstop from $410.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Wingstop from $367.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $379.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 637 shares of the business's 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 517 shares in the company, valued at $141,177.19. The trade was a 55.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Alex Kaleida sold 5,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,144,864.58. This trade represents a 39.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,475 shares of company stock valued at $11,665,881. Insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Wingstop Stock Performance

WING stock traded down $14.89 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $362.45. 1,199,950 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 770,947. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $340.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $285.99. The company has a market cap of $10.11 billion, a PE ratio of 60.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 1.84. Wingstop Inc. has a one year low of $204.00 and a one year high of $433.86.

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

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a boost from Wingstop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.09%.

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.