Fmr LLC Acquires 197,853 Shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Free Report) by 984.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 217,946 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 197,853 shares during the period. FMR LLC owned 0.75% of Wingstop worth $90,683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WING. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Wingstop in the second quarter worth $34,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 60.6% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 106 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Wingstop by 384.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 126 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Wingstop during the 2nd quarter valued at $62,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WING shares. Benchmark upgraded 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. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Wingstop from $450.00 to $365.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Wingstop from $375.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Stephens dropped their price target on Wingstop from $490.00 to $468.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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 report on Friday, November 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Wingstop presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $368.74.

Wingstop Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of WING stock traded up $2.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $340.09. 495,006 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 461,067. Wingstop Inc. has a 12 month low of $240.60 and a 12 month high of $433.86. The company's 50-day moving average price is $355.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $379.02. The company has a market cap of $9.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 98.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.78.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.09). Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 22.69% and a net margin of 17.05%. 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 company posted $0.69 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.49%.

Wingstop declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wingstop 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.