Wesbanco Bank Inc. Grows Stake in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 79.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,111 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s holdings in Wingstop were worth $1,379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WING. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Wingstop in the 4th quarter worth approximately $151,802,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Wingstop during the 4th quarter valued at $115,301,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Wingstop in the fourth quarter worth about $106,123,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Wingstop by 760.9% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 381,745 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $108,497,000 after buying an additional 337,401 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wingstop during the 4th quarter valued at $77,855,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Wingstop from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Wingstop from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Wedbush decreased their target price on Wingstop from $390.00 to $355.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Wingstop from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $348.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,000 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,919,074.60. The trade was a 17.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 637 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.07, for a total transaction of $173,945.59. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,177.19. This trade represents a 55.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wingstop Stock Up 1.4%

WING stock traded up $5.33 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $381.46. The stock had a trading volume of 676,975 shares, compared to its average volume of 628,992. Wingstop Inc. has a one year low of $204.00 and a one year high of $433.86. The company's 50 day moving average is $278.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $276.57. The company has a market capitalization of $10.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.88.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $171.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.25 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 17.37% and a negative return on equity of 21.59%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.28%. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.09%.

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.