Everence Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 910 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WING. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its stake in Wingstop by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 547 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Wingstop by 4.3% in the second quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 752 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Wingstop by 53.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 100 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in shares of Wingstop by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 11,523 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,794,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Wingstop by 60.6% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 106 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter.

Wingstop Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of WING opened at $282.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.24 billion, a PE ratio of 82.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.81. The company’s fifty day moving average is $313.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $363.38. Wingstop Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $245.56 and a fifty-two week high of $433.86.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $162.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.24 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 17.05% and a negative return on equity of 22.69%. Wingstop’s revenue was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. Wingstop’s payout ratio is 31.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wingstop

In other Wingstop news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.38, for a total value of $86,285.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,285.08. This trade represents a 50.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WING has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Wingstop from $450.00 to $365.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $390.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Wingstop from $375.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. BTIG Research raised Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $468.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.74.

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.