Wingstop Inc. $WING Stock Sold by King Luther Capital Management Corp

King Luther Capital Management Corp decreased its stake in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 60,134 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 5,317 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $6,336,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Wingstop in the second quarter worth approximately $481,314,000. Darsana Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 20.0% in the second quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 1,500,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $260,115,000 after acquiring an additional 250,000 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 44.5% in the second quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 942,943 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $163,516,000 after acquiring an additional 290,501 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Wingstop by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 863,951 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $149,751,000 after purchasing an additional 16,907 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in Wingstop during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $147,440,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WING has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Wingstop from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Wingstop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Wingstop from $191.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Wingstop from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $220.00 to $155.00 in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wingstop presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $219.56.

Wingstop Stock Performance

Shares of WING stock opened at $159.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.38, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.77. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $124.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $159.82. Wingstop Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $95.82 and a fifty-two week high of $302.80.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The restaurant operator reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $185.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $192.89 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 15.80% and a net margin of 16.03%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.09 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 4th. Investors of record on Friday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. Wingstop’s payout ratio is presently 30.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Wesley Mcdonald sold 1,520 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.11, for a total transaction of $220,567.20. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $578,408.46. This represents a 27.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Raj Kapoor sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.61, for a total transaction of $409,025.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $271,428.99. This represents a 60.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wingstop Profile

Wingstop Inc. is a restaurant company focused on chicken wings and related menu items. Its offerings include classic and boneless wings with a range of flavors, as well as chicken tenders, fries, dips and other sides. Customers can order through its restaurants and digital channels. Founded in 1994 in Garland, Texas, Wingstop has grown into an international brand. The company operates primarily through franchised restaurants in the United States and select international markets. Wingstop is headquartered in Addison, Texas.