Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Buys 1,367 Shares of Wingstop Inc. $WING

Key Points

• Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Wingstop Inc. by 64.0% during the second quarter, acquiring additional shares worth approximately $1.18 million.
• Wingstop recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, marking a positive change from the previous $0.27 dividend, with an annualized yield of 0.5%.
• Wingstop's shares closed at $255.87, with a one-year range between $204.00 and $433.86, and the restaurant operator reported a net margin of 25.61% for the last quarter.

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 64.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,502 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 1,367 shares during the quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Wingstop were worth $1,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WING. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Wingstop in the first quarter valued at approximately $212,672,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Wingstop by 43.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,646,934 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $371,517,000 after acquiring an additional 496,717 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 130.7% in the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 631,989 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $142,564,000 after purchasing an additional 358,044 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 64.4% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 550,879 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $123,295,000 after purchasing an additional 215,816 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Wingstop by 66.3% in the 1st quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 446,601 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $100,744,000 after purchasing an additional 178,041 shares during the last quarter.

Wingstop Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of WING traded up $2.28 on Monday, hitting $255.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 647,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 851,647. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $315.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $295.26. Wingstop Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $204.00 and a fifty-two week high of $433.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.87.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $174.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.60 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 25.61% and a negative return on equity of 17.07%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Wingstop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Wingstop's payout ratio is presently 20.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Alex Kaleida sold 5,400 shares of the 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. This represents a 39.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marisa Carona sold 11,938 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.34, for a total transaction of $4,421,118.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,838 shares of company stock valued at $8,118,535 in the last quarter. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $440.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Wingstop from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Wingstop from $325.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "overweight" rating on the stock. Finally, Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wingstop has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $380.52.

Wingstop 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.