Wingstop Inc. $WING Holdings Trimmed by Whittier Trust Co.

Key Points

• Whittier Trust sharply reduced its Wingstop stake by 96% in the second quarter, selling 23,860 shares and retaining 1,000 shares worth approximately $171,000.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive but has weakened: Wingstop has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $241.81, while several firms recently lowered targets or downgraded the stock.
• Wingstop reported quarterly EPS of $1.18, beating estimates, while revenue rose 6.5% year over year to $185.56 million but fell short of expectations. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.33 per share.

Whittier Trust Co. reduced its position in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 96.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,000 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 23,860 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.'s holdings in Wingstop were worth $171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WING. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Wingstop by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 959 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,628 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $627,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in Wingstop by 1.1% during the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 5,672 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $879,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Wingstop by 76.9% in the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 138 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lifted its stake in Wingstop by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 4,784 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,141,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Wingstop from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $155.00 in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $330.00 to $235.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Wingstop from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $290.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Wingstop from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $241.81.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of WING stock opened at $113.90 on Friday. Wingstop Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $110.44 and a fifty-two week high of $345.81. The stock's 50-day moving average is $146.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.83. The firm has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.05, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.81.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $185.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.25 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 16.15%.The firm's revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, August 15th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. This is a boost from Wingstop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.50%.

Wingstop Company Profile

Wingstop Inc NASDAQ: WING is a fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in chicken wings and related menu items. Founded in 1994 in Garland, Texas, the company has built its brand around bold, chef-inspired wing flavors and a streamlined service model that caters to dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering orders.

The company's core offerings include both bone-in and boneless chicken wings tossed in a variety of proprietary rubs and sauces, such as Original Hot, Lemon Pepper, and Mango Habanero.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source