Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 29,668 Shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 68,486 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 29,668 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.23% of Wingstop worth $28,496,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WING. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new stake in Wingstop during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Wingstop during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 60.3% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 93 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 60.6% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 106 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 384.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 126 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WING has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Wingstop from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $458.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Stephens decreased their price objective on Wingstop from $490.00 to $468.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Wingstop from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. BTIG Research raised Wingstop from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $370.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Wingstop from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $368.74.

Wingstop Stock Performance

Shares of WING traded up $2.51 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $340.89. 246,213 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 461,005. The stock's fifty day moving average is $378.99 and its 200 day moving average is $385.60. The stock has a market cap of $9.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.76. Wingstop Inc. has a 1-year low of $215.69 and a 1-year high of $433.86.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.69 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.