Royal Bank of Canada Buys 17,576 Shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 23.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 91,522 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,576 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $26,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WING. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Wingstop by 521.4% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Wingstop by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 91 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Wingstop during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in shares of Wingstop by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 143 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Wingstop during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000.

Wingstop Stock Up 0.4%

WING stock opened at $322.47 on Friday. Wingstop Inc. has a twelve month low of $204.00 and a twelve month high of $433.86. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $250.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $275.93. The company has a market cap of $9.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.80.

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

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.09%.

Insider Transactions at Wingstop

In other news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 637 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.07, for a total transaction of $173,945.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,177.19. The trade was a 55.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Wingstop from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Securities lifted their target price on Wingstop from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Wingstop from $319.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Wingstop from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Wingstop from $271.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $333.96.

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.