Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) is Blueshift Asset Management LLC's 8th Largest Position

Key Points

• Blueshift Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Wingstop Inc. by 472.1% in the first quarter, making it the firm's 8th largest position, valued at approximately $2.6 million.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Wingstop, with Wells Fargo boosting its target to $415 and Raymond James to $420, indicating strong confidence in the stock.
• Wingstop recently announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.27 to $0.30, reflecting a commitment to shareholder returns, with an annual yield of 0.3%.

Blueshift Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 472.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,533 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 9,517 shares during the period. Wingstop makes up 1.0% of Blueshift Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Blueshift Asset Management LLC's holdings in Wingstop were worth $2,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Wingstop by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 795 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Wingstop by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 740 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 62.1% during the fourth 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. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in Wingstop by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 6,023 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,359,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 637 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owned 517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,177.19. This trade represents a 55.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Alex Kaleida sold 5,400 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,144,864.58. This represents a 39.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,475 shares of company stock valued at $11,665,881 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of Wingstop stock traded down $14.89 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $362.45. The company had a trading volume of 1,199,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 770,947. The firm 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. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $340.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $285.99.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $174.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.60 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 25.61%. The firm's revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is an increase from Wingstop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Melius assumed coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They set a "hold" rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded Wingstop from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. Westpark Capital raised Wingstop to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Wingstop from $325.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on Wingstop from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company 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.