Vanguard Group Inc. Trims Stake in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its stake in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,873,815 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 5,779 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.84% of Wingstop worth $816,738,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WING. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position 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 worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in Wingstop by 0.3% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 11,523 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,794,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Wingstop by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 91 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings 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. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 42 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WING shares. TD Securities lowered their price target on shares of Wingstop from $365.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Benchmark lowered their target price on shares of Wingstop from $340.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays cut their price target on Wingstop from $359.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Wingstop from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Wingstop from $389.00 to $375.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wingstop has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $353.68.

Wingstop Stock Down 2.3 %

Wingstop stock opened at $224.00 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $257.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $312.53. Wingstop Inc. has a 52-week low of $205.60 and a 52-week high of $433.86. The company has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.88.

Wingstop announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.11%.

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.