Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Cuts Position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 82.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 260 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,225 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $67,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WING. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Wingstop in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Wingstop in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Wingstop in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in shares of Wingstop in the third quarter worth approximately $72,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 330.3% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 469 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 360 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Wingstop from $235.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $425.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $410.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Wingstop from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $340.00 target price on the stock. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $294.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Marisa Carona sold 2,586 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.96, for a total value of $961,888.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $612,246.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Marisa Carona sold 2,586 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.96, for a total value of $961,888.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $612,246.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,843 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total transaction of $3,658,428.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,771,901.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,901 shares of company stock worth $5,120,605. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Wingstop Trading Up 3.4 %

WING opened at $382.56 on Friday. Wingstop Inc. has a 1-year low of $150.08 and a 1-year high of $383.98. The company has a market capitalization of $11.24 billion, a PE ratio of 162.79, a PEG ratio of 6.61 and a beta of 1.68. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $354.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $281.55.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The restaurant operator reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.07. Wingstop had a net margin of 15.25% and a negative return on equity of 17.66%. The business had revenue of $127.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $120.47 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. Wingstop’s payout ratio is presently 37.45%.

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.