Advisors Asset Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,057 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $2,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Wingstop by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 861,783 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $358,571,000 after acquiring an additional 12,549 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Wingstop by 0.9% in 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 boosted its stake in Wingstop by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 647,677 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $269,485,000 after purchasing an additional 46,772 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in Wingstop by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 418,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $174,095,000 after purchasing an additional 71,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Wingstop during the 4th quarter worth $115,301,000.

Wingstop Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of WING opened at $215.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.88. Wingstop Inc. has a 12-month low of $205.60 and a 12-month high of $433.86. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $262.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $317.74.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WING has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Northcoast Research cut shares of Wingstop from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. TD Securities lowered their target price on shares of Wingstop from $365.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Wingstop from $389.00 to $375.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $357.67.

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.