WINTON GROUP Ltd Purchases 19,011 Shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 950.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,011 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 19,011 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $5,971,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Wingstop by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,206,062 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $342,763,000 after purchasing an additional 22,552 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Wingstop by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 861,783 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $358,571,000 after buying an additional 12,549 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Wingstop by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 816,991 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $326,020,000 after buying an additional 7,204 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in Wingstop by 20.5% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 418,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $174,095,000 after buying an additional 71,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Wingstop in the fourth quarter worth $115,301,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WING. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Wingstop in a report on Wednesday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $270.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays decreased their target price 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. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price target (down previously from $375.00) on shares of Wingstop in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, TD Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $365.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wingstop currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $353.68.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of WING stock opened at $220.37 on Thursday. Wingstop Inc. has a 1-year low of $205.60 and a 1-year high of $433.86. The company has a market cap of $6.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $259.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $314.57.

Wingstop announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Wingstop’s payout ratio is 29.11%.

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.