BNP Paribas Financial Markets Acquires 82,416 Shares of Wingstop Inc. $WING

BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 2,528.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,675 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 82,416 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Wingstop were worth $20,433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WING. Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Wingstop in the first quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Wingstop by 2,770.6% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,952 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $440,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Wingstop by 5.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 92,439 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $20,852,000 after acquiring an additional 4,937 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Wingstop by 121.4% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 217 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Wingstop by 45.5% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $467,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WING. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Wingstop from $330.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $305.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Wingstop from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Wingstop from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $290.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $295.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wingstop presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $276.61.

Wingstop Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ WING opened at $142.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a PE ratio of 35.38, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.82. Wingstop Inc. has a 1-year low of $116.35 and a 1-year high of $388.14. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $156.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.84.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $183.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.82 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 15.77% and a negative return on equity of 16.22%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.85%.

About Wingstop

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.