VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Makes New Investment in Wingstop Inc. $WING

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 5,714 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,924,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Wingstop during the second quarter worth approximately $15,939,000. Bridges Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Wingstop during the second quarter worth approximately $264,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Wingstop by 4.2% during the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Wingstop during the second quarter worth approximately $315,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in Wingstop by 24.9% during the second quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 4,421 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,489,000 after purchasing an additional 882 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Wingstop

In related news, CFO Alex Kaleida sold 5,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.09, for a total value of $2,030,886.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,144,864.58. This trade represents a 39.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.34, for a total value of $1,666,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 42,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,842,034.18. This represents a 9.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,838 shares of company stock valued at $8,118,535. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of Wingstop stock opened at $266.89 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $283.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $299.24. Wingstop Inc. has a 12 month low of $204.00 and a 12 month high of $388.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.48, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.78.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This is a boost from Wingstop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Wingstop’s payout ratio is 20.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WING. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Wingstop in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $315.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America reduced their target price on Wingstop from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 18th. Guggenheim increased 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. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Wingstop from $415.00 to $365.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $366.73.

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.