IFP Advisors Inc Reduces Stock Position in Wingstop Inc. $WING

IFP Advisors Inc cut its holdings in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 25.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,035 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 360 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WING. WoodTrust Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Wingstop in the 2nd quarter valued at $261,000. 111 Capital purchased a new position in shares of Wingstop in the 2nd quarter valued at $380,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wingstop in the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Wingstop during the 2nd quarter worth $337,000. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Wingstop during the 2nd quarter worth $405,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WING has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Wingstop from $275.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Wingstop from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $315.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $371.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wingstop news, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 42,777 shares in the company, valued at $15,842,034.18. This trade represents a 9.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marisa Carona sold 11,938 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.34, for a total value of $4,421,118.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,838 shares of company stock worth $8,118,535. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Wingstop Price Performance

Wingstop stock opened at $250.30 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $289.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $298.20. Wingstop Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $204.00 and a fifty-two week high of $395.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.72, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.78.

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

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. 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. Wingstop’s payout ratio is currently 20.00%.

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.