Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Grows Position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 83.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,400 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 24,700 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.19% of Wingstop worth $15,460,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,206,062 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $342,763,000 after buying an additional 22,552 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Wingstop by 0.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 816,991 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $326,020,000 after acquiring an additional 7,204 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Wingstop by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 801,732 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $227,852,000 after acquiring an additional 154,055 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in Wingstop by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 573,999 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $163,131,000 after buying an additional 101,247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Wingstop by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 547,831 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $155,694,000 after buying an additional 14,124 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WING shares. TD Securities cut their price target on Wingstop from $365.00 to $305.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $270.00 target price for the company. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Wedbush lowered their target price on shares of Wingstop from $390.00 to $355.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $334.13.

Wingstop Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ WING traded up $1.21 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $217.59. 488,487 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 582,255. Wingstop Inc. has a 52-week low of $204.00 and a 52-week high of $433.86. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $229.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $288.17. The company has a market capitalization of $6.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 2.02.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.11%.

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.