TimesSquare Capital Management LLC Purchases 75,077 Shares of Wingstop Inc. $WING

TimesSquare Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 813.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,304 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 75,077 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $20,106,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 1,650.0% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 105 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 76.9% in the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 138 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 54.3% during the third quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 197.9% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 143 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new position in Wingstop during the third quarter worth about $47,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Wesley S. Mcdonald sold 566 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $141,500.00. Following the sale, the director owned 4,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,093,750. This trade represents a 11.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kilandigalu Madati sold 2,700 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.73, for a total value of $703,971.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,583 shares in the company, valued at approximately $673,465.59. This represents a 51.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a report on Monday, April 20th. Benchmark reduced their target price on Wingstop from $320.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. BTIG Research reduced their target price on Wingstop from $400.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Wingstop from $295.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Wingstop from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wingstop presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $282.41.

Wingstop Price Performance

NASDAQ WING opened at $126.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.86. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $169.82 and its 200-day moving average is $223.81. Wingstop Inc. has a one year low of $116.35 and a one year high of $388.14.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $183.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.82 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 15.77%.Wingstop’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.85%.

About Wingstop

Wingstop Inc (NASDAQ: WING) is a fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in chicken wings and related menu items. Founded in 1994 in Garland, Texas, the company has built its brand around bold, chef-inspired wing flavors and a streamlined service model that caters to dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering orders.

The company’s core offerings include both bone-in and boneless chicken wings tossed in a variety of proprietary rubs and sauces, such as Original Hot, Lemon Pepper, and Mango Habanero.