Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 119,911 Shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lessened its stake in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 16.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 608,158 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 119,911 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 2.08% of Wingstop worth $257,044,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WING. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in Wingstop during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Wingstop during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wingstop during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in Wingstop by 60.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 93 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Wingstop by 53.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 115 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $475.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Wingstop from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Wingstop from $407.00 to $423.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Wingstop from $407.00 to $458.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $379.53.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of WING opened at $420.89 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $388.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $385.05. Wingstop Inc. has a one year low of $170.83 and a one year high of $433.86. The company has a market cap of $12.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 149.78, a P/E/G ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 1.71.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.93 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $155.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $146.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. Wingstop’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.26%. This is a boost 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 is currently 38.43%.

Insider Activity at Wingstop

In other news, SVP Donnie Upshaw sold 3,199 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 97 shares in the company, valued at $36,152.87. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.