Alliancebernstein L.P. Increases Stock Holdings in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 21.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 573,999 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 101,247 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $163,131,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,206,062 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $342,763,000 after buying an additional 22,552 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 861,783 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $358,571,000 after purchasing an additional 12,549 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wingstop by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 816,991 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $326,020,000 after acquiring an additional 7,204 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in Wingstop by 20.5% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 418,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $174,095,000 after purchasing an additional 71,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the 4th quarter worth about $115,301,000.

Wingstop Stock Up 4.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WING opened at $236.40 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $255.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $309.67. The company has a market cap of $6.60 billion, a PE ratio of 63.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.88. Wingstop Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $205.60 and a fifty-two week high of $433.86.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Wingstop’s payout ratio is currently 29.11%.

Wingstop announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WING shares. Barclays reduced their target price on Wingstop from $359.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Wingstop from $389.00 to $375.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Wedbush lowered their price target on Wingstop from $390.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. TD Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $365.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $350.73.

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.