Short Interest in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) Decreases By 17.1%

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,740,000 shares, a decline of 17.1% from the March 15th total of 2,100,000 shares. Currently, 6.3% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 895,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Institutional Trading of Wingstop

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Wingstop by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,206,062 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $342,763,000 after acquiring an additional 22,552 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Wingstop by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,150,217 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $326,893,000 after purchasing an additional 262,229 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Wingstop by 0.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 816,991 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $326,020,000 after purchasing an additional 7,204 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Wingstop by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 801,732 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $227,852,000 after buying an additional 154,055 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Wingstop by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 573,999 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $163,131,000 after buying an additional 101,247 shares during the last quarter.

Wingstop Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WING traded down $1.31 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $215.08. 85,133 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 579,446. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.00 billion, a PE ratio of 57.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 2.02. Wingstop has a 52-week low of $204.00 and a 52-week high of $433.86. The business's fifty day moving average price is $229.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $288.17.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Wingstop's payout ratio is 29.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WING shares. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Northcoast Research downgraded Wingstop from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Wingstop from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Wingstop from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $270.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Wingstop from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $334.13.

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.