Clearbridge Investments LLC Grows Holdings in Wingstop Inc. $WING

Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 17.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 553,686 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 80,894 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 1.99% of Wingstop worth $132,049,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WING. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 373,524 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $89,082,000 after acquiring an additional 57,818 shares during the period. Havemeyer Place LP purchased a new position in shares of Wingstop during the 4th quarter worth about $372,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 60,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $14,344,000 after acquiring an additional 2,558 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 110.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 438,913 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $104,676,000 after acquiring an additional 230,289 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 214.8% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 344,654 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $82,196,000 after acquiring an additional 235,173 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WING. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $330.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Truist Financial set a $374.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $255.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Wingstop from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $290.00 to $190.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Benchmark cut their price target on shares of Wingstop from $320.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Wingstop presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.61.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WING opened at $142.23 on Monday. Wingstop Inc. has a 52-week low of $116.35 and a 52-week high of $388.14. The company has a 50 day moving average of $156.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $215.75. The company has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.82.

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

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. 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.