Acadian Asset Management LLC Raises Stake in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 94.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,482 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,179 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $1,893,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Wingstop by 3.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,924,326 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,071,473,000 after purchasing an additional 104,780 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,273,542 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $833,026,000 after acquiring an additional 101,917 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Wingstop by 155.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 873,385 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $224,093,000 after acquiring an additional 531,880 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Wingstop by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 396,258 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $101,673,000 after purchasing an additional 8,058 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Wingstop by 11.1% in the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 340,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $124,723,000 after purchasing an additional 34,000 shares during the last quarter.

Wingstop Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WING opened at $394.81 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $379.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $379.44. Wingstop Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.84 and a 12-month high of $431.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 140.50, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 1.71.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.11. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 21.18% and a net margin of 17.33%. The firm had revenue of $155.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $146.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. Wingstop’s quarterly revenue was up 45.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.77 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.27%. This is an increase from Wingstop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Donnie Upshaw sold 3,199 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $372.71, for a total transaction of $1,192,299.29. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 97 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,152.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Wingstop from $407.00 to $423.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Wingstop from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Wingstop from $407.00 to $458.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $378.65.

Wingstop 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.