Headlands Technologies LLC Grows Holdings in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Key Points

• Headlands Technologies LLC significantly increased its stake in Wingstop Inc. by 100.5% during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to approximately $753,000.
• Wingstop's CFO and CEO recently sold shares worth over $3.6 million combined, representing substantial reductions in their respective ownership of the stock.
• Wingstop has raised its quarterly dividend to $0.30, up from $0.27, indicating a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 100.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,337 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 1,673 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC's holdings in Wingstop were worth $753,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WING. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in Wingstop by 93.9% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 128 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC lifted 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 valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Wingstop during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Wingstop by 280.3% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Wingstop from $275.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of Wingstop from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Gordon Haskett upgraded Wingstop to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Wingstop from $367.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $379.52.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of WING stock traded up $13.61 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $342.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 600,598 shares, compared to its average volume of 829,002. The company has a market capitalization of $9.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 1.84. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $339.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $288.30. Wingstop Inc. has a 1-year low of $204.00 and a 1-year high of $433.86.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.12. Wingstop had a net margin of 25.61% and a negative return on equity of 17.07%. The company had revenue of $174.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This is an increase from Wingstop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Wingstop's payout ratio is presently 18.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Alex Kaleida sold 5,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 8,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,144,864.58. The trade was a 39.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was 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 represents a 17.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 31,838 shares of company stock worth $11,491,935. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

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.