Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 5,630 Shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 145.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,507 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 5,630 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Wingstop were worth $3,956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wingstop by 138.6% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 14,921 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $6,208,000 after purchasing an additional 53,542 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Wingstop by 40.8% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 465,368 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $193,630,000 after buying an additional 134,802 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new stake in Wingstop in the 3rd quarter valued at $656,000. Navellier & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Wingstop by 234.5% during the 3rd quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 9,938 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $4,135,000 after buying an additional 6,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 647,677 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $269,485,000 after buying an additional 46,772 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WING has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Northcoast Research raised Wingstop from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $350.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark raised Wingstop from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $340.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Wingstop from $375.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup boosted 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Wingstop from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $458.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $368.74.

Wingstop Price Performance

Wingstop stock traded down $2.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $328.77. 215,536 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 560,424. The firm has a market cap of $9.60 billion, a PE ratio of 95.85, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $363.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $380.58. Wingstop Inc. has a 12 month low of $238.06 and a 12 month high of $433.86.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.09). Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 22.69% and a net margin of 17.05%. The company had revenue of $162.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.69 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.49%.

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.