Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Reduces Position in Wingstop Inc. $WING

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC trimmed its stake in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 35.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 196,893 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 108,388 shares during the quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC owned approximately 0.72% of Wingstop worth $30,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 76.9% during the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 138 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in Wingstop by 197.9% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 143 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Wingstop by 75.7% in the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 188 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Wingstop by 121.4% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 217 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Wingstop in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WING shares. Mizuho set a $280.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Wingstop from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Benchmark decreased their target price on shares of Wingstop from $320.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Wingstop in a report on Monday, March 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $260.89.

Wingstop Stock Performance

Shares of Wingstop stock opened at $177.99 on Friday. Wingstop Inc. has a twelve month low of $116.35 and a twelve month high of $381.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.28, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.79. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $152.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $203.37.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $183.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.82 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 15.77%.The firm’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

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

About Wingstop

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.