Wingstop Inc. $WING Shares Sold by Versor Investments LP

Key Points

• Versor Investments LP significantly reduced its stake in Wingstop Inc. by 67.2%, leaving it with 1,740 shares worth approximately $393,000 as of the most recent quarter.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Algert Global and Cresset Asset Management, have increased their holdings in Wingstop, reflecting a mixed sentiment among institutional players.
• Wingstop has announced a dividend increase, now paying $0.30 per share quarterly, which signals confidence in its financial health and represents a 0.4% dividend yield.

Versor Investments LP lowered its holdings in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 67.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,740 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 3,569 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP's holdings in Wingstop were worth $393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in Wingstop by 9.8% in the first quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 30,377 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $6,852,000 after acquiring an additional 2,710 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Wingstop by 145.3% in the first quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 1,872 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,109 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Wingstop by 4.7% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,262,597 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $284,817,000 after acquiring an additional 56,535 shares during the last quarter. Marathon Trading Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Wingstop in the first quarter worth approximately $226,000. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in Wingstop by 32.8% in the first quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 2,413 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $544,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WING. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Wingstop from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Wingstop from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Wingstop from $296.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Wingstop from $367.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $379.52.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Marisa Carona sold 11,938 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.34, for a total value of $4,421,118.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Alex Kaleida sold 5,400 shares of Wingstop 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 directly owned 8,362 shares in the company, valued at $3,144,864.58. The trade was a 39.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,838 shares of company stock valued at $11,491,935 in the last ninety days. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wingstop Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:WING opened at $329.26 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.19 billion, a PE ratio of 54.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 1.84. Wingstop Inc. has a twelve month low of $204.00 and a twelve month high of $433.86. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $334.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $290.20.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $174.33 million during 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 company's revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This is a positive change from Wingstop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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