American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 56,535 Shares of Wingstop Inc. $WING

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Wingstop Inc. by 4.7%, now owning approximately 4.52% of the company, valued at $284.8 million.
• Wingstop has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, up from the previous $0.27, with an annualized yield of 0.4%.
• The company's recent earnings report showed a 12.0% growth in revenue year-over-year, with an EPS of $1.00, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.88.

American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 4.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,262,597 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 56,535 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 4.52% of Wingstop worth $284,817,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of 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. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 bought a new stake in shares of Wingstop during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Wingstop by 280.3% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $440.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Stephens boosted their price target on Wingstop from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Wingstop from $367.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "overweight" rating for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $379.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Alex Kaleida sold 5,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.09, for a total value of $2,030,886.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 8,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,144,864.58. This represents a 39.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marisa Carona sold 11,938 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.34, for a total value of $4,421,118.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,838 shares of company stock worth $11,491,935 over the last quarter. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wingstop Stock Down 2.6%

WING traded down $8.71 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $330.92. The company had a trading volume of 566,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 824,491. The business has a 50-day moving average of $336.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $289.64. The company has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.84. 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $174.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $172.60 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 25.61%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. 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%. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.00%.

About Wingstop

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.