Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $1.25 Million in Wingstop Inc. $WING

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 8,100 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,255,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in Wingstop by 76.9% in the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 138 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in 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 valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 75.7% during the fourth 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. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew 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 during the period. Finally, Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WING shares. Barclays dropped their target price on Wingstop from $330.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $305.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Wingstop from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $325.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Guggenheim cut their price objective on Wingstop from $255.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 28th. Two investment 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $260.89.

Wingstop Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WING opened at $177.99 on Friday. Wingstop Inc. has a 1 year low of $116.35 and a 1 year high of $381.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $152.00 and a 200-day moving average of $203.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.79.

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 business had revenue of $183.72 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 for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Wingstop’s payout ratio is currently 29.85%.

Wingstop Company Profile

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.