Fred Alger Management LLC Grows Holdings in Wingstop Inc. $WING

Fred Alger Management LLC grew its stake in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 245,536 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 26,220 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $58,558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WING. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Wingstop by 76.9% in the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 138 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 197.9% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 143 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 75.7% in the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 188 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 121.4% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 217 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WING has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $255.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Wingstop from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $330.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Monday, March 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $305.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $268.70.

Wingstop Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ WING opened at $162.73 on Wednesday. Wingstop Inc. has a 12 month low of $116.35 and a 12 month high of $381.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a PE ratio of 40.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.82. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $157.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $211.36.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $183.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.82 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 15.77% and a negative return on equity of 16.22%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.