Wingstop Inc. $WING Position Increased by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,327 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $447,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WING. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Wingstop by 104.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 457 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Wingstop by 119.0% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,964 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in Wingstop by 2.5% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 3,419 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $771,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Wingstop by 72.5% during the first quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,570 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $354,000 after buying an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Wingstop by 25.8% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,346 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,206,000 after buying an additional 1,096 shares in the last quarter.

Wingstop Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WING opened at $250.30 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $6.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.78. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $289.06 and its 200-day moving average is $298.20. Wingstop Inc. has a 52-week low of $204.00 and a 52-week high of $395.42.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.12. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 25.61%.The business had revenue of $174.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.60 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from Wingstop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WING has been the topic of several recent research reports. Guggenheim raised their target price on Wingstop from $325.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial upgraded Wingstop from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $420.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, August 15th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Wingstop from $400.00 to $372.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on Wingstop in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wingstop currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $371.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Marisa Carona sold 11,938 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.34, for a total transaction of $4,421,118.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 4,500 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.34, for a total value of $1,666,530.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 42,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,842,034.18. This trade represents a 9.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,838 shares of company stock valued at $8,118,535 over the last three months. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.