Brookstone Capital Management Purchases Shares of 5,656 Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Brookstone Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,656 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,607,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Driehaus Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Wingstop by 4.1% in the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 193,307 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $81,703,000 after purchasing an additional 7,600 shares during the period. Scientech Research LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the second quarter valued at $2,249,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Wingstop during the third quarter valued at about $5,010,000. Conway Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Wingstop during the third quarter valued at about $3,544,000. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Wingstop by 40.8% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 465,368 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $193,630,000 after acquiring an additional 134,802 shares during the period.

Wingstop Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WING traded up $2.25 during trading on Thursday, reaching $274.80. 499,751 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 565,055. Wingstop Inc. has a 1-year low of $265.59 and a 1-year high of $433.86. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $310.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $357.70. The firm has a market cap of $8.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.81.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $162.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.24 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 17.05% and a negative return on equity of 22.69%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.69 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.38, for a total value of $86,285.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 266 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $86,285.08. This represents a 50.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WING. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $390.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Wingstop from $417.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Wingstop from $470.00 to $380.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. BTIG Research upgraded Wingstop from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $370.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded Wingstop from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $350.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $368.74.

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.