KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Takes Position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 5,900 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,677,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Wingstop by 138.6% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 14,921 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,208,000 after buying an additional 53,542 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 145.2% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,507 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,956,000 after acquiring an additional 5,630 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 125.0% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 4,770 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,985,000 after acquiring an additional 2,650 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Wingstop by 984.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 217,946 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $90,683,000 after purchasing an additional 197,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Wingstop by 364.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 13,330 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,546,000 after purchasing an additional 10,460 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on WING. Wedbush lowered their target price on shares of Wingstop from $390.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $280.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $359.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Benchmark lowered their target price on Wingstop from $340.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Wingstop from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $353.68.

Wingstop Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ WING opened at $224.00 on Friday. Wingstop Inc. has a 52-week low of $205.60 and a 52-week high of $433.86. The business’s 50 day moving average is $257.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $313.00. The firm has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.38, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.88.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Wingstop’s payout ratio is 29.11%.

Wingstop announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wingstop Company 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.