Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its holdings in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,597 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 653 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.12% of Wingstop worth $14,811,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 1.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 861,783 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $358,571,000 after buying an additional 12,549 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 816,991 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $326,020,000 after acquiring an additional 7,204 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 647,677 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $269,485,000 after acquiring an additional 46,772 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Wingstop by 36.6% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 602,990 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $254,860,000 after purchasing an additional 161,600 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 40.8% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 465,368 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $193,630,000 after purchasing an additional 134,802 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $390.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. BTIG Research raised shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $450.00 to $365.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $458.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.74.

Wingstop Price Performance

WING opened at $301.33 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.78. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $344.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $376.49. Wingstop Inc. has a 1 year low of $240.60 and a 1 year high of $433.86.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.09). Wingstop had a net margin of 17.05% and a negative return on equity of 22.69%. The business had revenue of $162.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.69 earnings per share. Wingstop’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.49%.

Wingstop declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Wingstop

In other news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.38, for a total transaction of $86,285.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 266 shares in the company, valued at $86,285.08. This represents a 50.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

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.