Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Trims Stock Position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP decreased its stake in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 74.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,801 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 5,248 shares during the quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $512,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Wingstop by 521.4% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 91 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Wingstop in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 143 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Wingstop during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 637 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.07, for a total transaction of $173,945.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,177.19. This represents a 55.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Wingstop Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WING opened at $267.34 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $230.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $277.09. The stock has a market cap of $7.46 billion, a PE ratio of 72.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.80. Wingstop Inc. has a one year low of $204.00 and a one year high of $433.86.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.15. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 21.59% and a net margin of 17.37%. The business had revenue of $171.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Wingstop’s payout ratio is 18.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WING. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Wingstop to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Wingstop from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective (down from $375.00) on shares of Wingstop in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Wingstop from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $385.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wingstop presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $322.09.

About Wingstop

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.