Northern Trust Corp Raises Stock Position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 19.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 289,561 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 46,985 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $82,293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WING. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 902 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Wingstop by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 91 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Wingstop by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 143 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Wingstop by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 8,499 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,415,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Wingstop by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 897 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $260.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Wingstop from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wingstop has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $320.05.

Wingstop Price Performance

WING stock opened at $270.11 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $226.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $279.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.80. Wingstop Inc. has a 1 year low of $204.00 and a 1 year high of $433.86.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.15. Wingstop had a net margin of 17.37% and a negative return on equity of 21.59%. The firm had revenue of $171.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.09%.

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.