Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Purchases New Holdings in Wingstop Inc. $WING

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 19,849 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $3,442,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.07% of Wingstop at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the first quarter worth approximately $256,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 2,770.6% during the first 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 in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 5.6% in the first 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. boosted its position in Wingstop by 121.4% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 217 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Wingstop by 45.5% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $467,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on WING shares. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Wingstop from $237.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Wingstop from $255.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Wingstop to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $241.81.

Wingstop Trading Up 3.3%

NASDAQ:WING opened at $113.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 26.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $138.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $166.51. Wingstop Inc. has a 12-month low of $105.43 and a 12-month high of $338.80.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $185.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.25 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 16.15%.Wingstop’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, September 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, August 15th will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. This is a positive change from Wingstop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is 31.35%.

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.