Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 590 Shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,896 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 590 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $19,296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Wingstop by 53.8% in the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 100 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in Wingstop by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 11,523 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,794,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in Wingstop by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 143 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Wingstop by 7.8% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 758 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 9.1% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 686 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WING has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BTIG Research raised Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Northcoast Research cut shares of Wingstop from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $280.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $458.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $389.00 to $375.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $362.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wingstop news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.38, for a total value of $86,285.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 266 shares in the company, valued at $86,285.08. This trade represents a 50.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wingstop Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of WING opened at $236.51 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $287.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $339.19. The company has a market cap of $6.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.81. Wingstop Inc. has a twelve month low of $232.19 and a twelve month high of $433.86.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.11%.

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

About Wingstop

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.