Wingstop Inc. $WING Stock Position Lifted by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Wingstop Inc. by 165.4%, owning 8,703 shares valued at approximately $2.85 million.
• Wingstop reported $1.00 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.88, with a revenue increase of 12% year-over-year, totaling $174.33 million.
• The company recently announced a dividend increase from $0.27 to $0.30 per share, reflecting a 0.5% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 20%.

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 165.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,703 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 5,424 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Wingstop were worth $2,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 93.9% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Wingstop by 106.9% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 149 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 22.3% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 181 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wingstop by 121.4% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 217 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Wingstop by 280.3% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period.

Wingstop Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WING opened at $247.44 on Friday. Wingstop Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $204.00 and a fifty-two week high of $427.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.91 billion, a PE ratio of 41.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.87. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $309.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $295.69.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.12. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 25.61%.The company had revenue of $174.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $172.60 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is an increase from Wingstop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio is 20.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wingstop

In related news, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.34, for a total transaction of $1,666,530.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 42,777 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,842,034.18. The trade was a 9.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Marisa Carona sold 11,938 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,838 shares of company stock worth $8,118,535. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WING. William Blair initiated coverage on Wingstop in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Westpark Capital raised Wingstop to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Wingstop from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Wingstop from $335.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Four equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.

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