Short Interest in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) Rises By 16.0%

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,890,000 shares, an increase of 16.0% from the February 13th total of 1,630,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 744,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately 6.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WING. 111 Capital acquired a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the fourth quarter worth $296,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Wingstop by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 4,148 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,179,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its position in Wingstop by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 949 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 87,502 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $24,868,000 after acquiring an additional 11,577 shares during the period. Finally, Twinbeech Capital LP grew its position in shares of Wingstop by 130.5% in the fourth quarter. Twinbeech Capital LP now owns 36,202 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,289,000 after purchasing an additional 20,493 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WING has been the subject of several analyst reports. Northcoast Research downgraded Wingstop from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Benchmark dropped their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $340.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Wingstop from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, TD Securities cut their price target on Wingstop from $365.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wingstop currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $357.67.

Wingstop Stock Performance

Shares of WING opened at $214.65 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a PE ratio of 57.86, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.88. Wingstop has a twelve month low of $205.60 and a twelve month high of $433.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $264.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $320.00.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Wingstop’s payout ratio is presently 29.11%.

Wingstop declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.