Bank of New York Mellon Corp Increases Stake in Wingstop Inc. $WING

Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 11.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 488,213 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,300 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 1.79% of Wingstop worth $75,658,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Wingstop by 76.9% in the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 138 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 197.9% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 143 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Wingstop by 75.7% during the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 188 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Wingstop by 121.4% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 217 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Wingstop during the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WING opened at $134.95 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $150.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $194.79. The stock has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a PE ratio of 33.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.79. Wingstop Inc. has a 1 year low of $116.35 and a 1 year high of $381.45.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 $183.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $187.82 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. Wingstop’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WING has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Wingstop from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Wingstop from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $325.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Stephens set a $200.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Tuesday. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $255.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Wingstop from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $290.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $259.15.

Wingstop Profile

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.