Oak Thistle LLC Purchases Shares of 1,295 Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,295 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $368,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WING. Brookstone Capital Management purchased a new position in Wingstop in the fourth quarter valued at $1,607,000. Paragon Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Wingstop by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Paragon Advisors LLC now owns 3,986 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,133,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,135 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,459,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Wingstop during the 4th quarter worth about $427,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Wingstop during the 4th quarter worth about $259,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Wingstop from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $458.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Wingstop from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $370.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Wingstop from $417.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $390.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $368.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 266 shares of the company's stock, valued at $86,285.08. This trade represents a 50.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of WING stock traded down $1.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $272.92. The stock had a trading volume of 451,361 shares, compared to its average volume of 554,714. Wingstop Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $266.45 and a fifty-two week high of $433.86. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $309.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $357.12. The firm has a market cap of $7.97 billion, a PE ratio of 79.57, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.81.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.09). Wingstop had a net margin of 17.05% and a negative return on equity of 22.69%. The business had revenue of $162.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $160.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. Wingstop's revenue for the quarter was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.49%.

Wingstop announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign 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.