UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Reduces Holdings in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC decreased its holdings in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 8.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,925 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 6,646 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned 0.26% of Wingstop worth $31,591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WING. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Wingstop by 284.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 383,184 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $161,957,000 after acquiring an additional 283,412 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Wingstop by 984.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 217,946 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $90,683,000 after purchasing an additional 197,853 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Wingstop by 36.6% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 602,990 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $254,860,000 after purchasing an additional 161,600 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wingstop by 40.8% during the third 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 period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Wingstop by 66.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 325,920 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $137,753,000 after buying an additional 130,248 shares during the last quarter.

Wingstop Stock Performance

WING stock traded up $0.05 during trading on Thursday, reaching $337.30. 351,106 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 460,920. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $357.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $379.31. Wingstop Inc. has a 12 month low of $240.60 and a 12 month high of $433.86. The company has a market capitalization of $9.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 98.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.78.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $162.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.69 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

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

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WING shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Wingstop from $375.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup increased their target price on Wingstop from $417.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Wingstop from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $458.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Northcoast Research raised shares of Wingstop from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $350.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Benchmark raised shares of Wingstop from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $340.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wingstop has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $368.74.

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.