Norges Bank Buys New Shares in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Norges Bank bought a new position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 373,411 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $106,123,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.28% of Wingstop at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Wingstop by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,206,062 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $342,763,000 after purchasing an additional 22,552 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 861,783 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $358,571,000 after buying an additional 12,549 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Wingstop by 0.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 816,991 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $326,020,000 after buying an additional 7,204 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in Wingstop by 20.5% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 418,418 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $174,095,000 after buying an additional 71,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Wingstop in the fourth quarter worth about $115,301,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim raised shares of Wingstop from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $280.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Wingstop in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Wingstop from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Wingstop from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $270.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $270.00 price objective for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $350.73.

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Wingstop Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of Wingstop stock traded up $6.82 on Thursday, hitting $242.78. 2,292,334 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 558,469. Wingstop Inc. has a 12-month low of $205.60 and a 12-month high of $433.86. The company has a market cap of $6.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 2.01. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $253.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $308.69.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Wingstop's payout ratio is currently 29.11%.

Wingstop announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.