Carnegie Investment Counsel Grows Stock Position in Wingstop Inc. $WING

Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 32.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,489 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,764 shares during the quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $10,614,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wingstop in the first quarter valued at $256,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Wingstop by 2,770.6% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,952 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $440,000 after buying an additional 1,884 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in Wingstop by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 92,439 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $20,852,000 after buying an additional 4,937 shares in 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 worth $49,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Wingstop by 45.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WING shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $255.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Wingstop from $250.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Wingstop from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho set a $280.00 price objective on Wingstop in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Wingstop from $210.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $261.19.

Wingstop Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WING opened at $153.29 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $199.94. Wingstop Inc. has a one year low of $116.35 and a one year high of $381.45. The company has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.79.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. Wingstop had a net margin of 15.77% and a negative return on equity of 16.22%. The firm had revenue of $183.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.82 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.85%.

Wingstop 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.