Fred Alger Management LLC Has $58.56 Million Stock Holdings in Wingstop Inc. $WING

Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its stake in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 245,536 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,220 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC owned about 0.88% of Wingstop worth $58,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Wingstop by 76.9% in the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 138 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Wingstop by 197.9% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 143 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wingstop during the third quarter valued at about $47,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 75.7% during the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 188 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 75.9% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 204 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $255.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Mizuho set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a report on Friday, June 5th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $210.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Wingstop from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Wingstop has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $268.70.

Wingstop Stock Performance

Wingstop stock opened at $162.73 on Wednesday. Wingstop Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $116.35 and a fifty-two week high of $381.45. The stock has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a PE ratio of 40.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.82. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $157.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.36.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $183.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.82 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 15.77% and a negative return on equity of 16.22%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Wingstop’s payout ratio is 29.85%.

Wingstop Company Profile

Wingstop Inc (NASDAQ: WING) is a fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in chicken wings and related menu items. Founded in 1994 in Garland, Texas, the company has built its brand around bold, chef-inspired wing flavors and a streamlined service model that caters to dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering orders.

The company’s core offerings include both bone-in and boneless chicken wings tossed in a variety of proprietary rubs and sauces, such as Original Hot, Lemon Pepper, and Mango Habanero.