Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Purchases 5,775 Shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS grew its position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 36.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,551 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 5,775 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS owned 0.07% of Wingstop worth $6,125,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Wingstop by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 897 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Wingstop by 103.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 256 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Wingstop by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 35,752 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $10,161,000 after acquiring an additional 1,893 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Wingstop by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 143 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC raised its position in Wingstop by 43.5% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 5,536 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,678 shares during the last quarter.

Wingstop Trading Down 5.3 %

Shares of WING stock traded down $13.07 on Friday, hitting $234.02. The stock had a trading volume of 1,991,829 shares, compared to its average volume of 765,071. Wingstop Inc. has a twelve month low of $232.19 and a twelve month high of $433.86. The firm has a market cap of $6.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.08, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $290.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $341.28.

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

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.38, for a total value of $86,285.08. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Wednesday. TD Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $365.00 to $305.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $389.00 to $375.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Wingstop from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $458.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $359.00 to $315.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Wingstop has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $367.05.

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.