Wingstop Inc. $WING Shares Sold by Granite Investment Partners LLC

Granite Investment Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 93.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,746 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 64,977 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $1,194,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 64.2% during the second quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 8,879 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,990,000 after purchasing an additional 3,471 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Wingstop by 123.9% in the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 102,687 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,861,000 after buying an additional 56,833 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Wingstop by 85.6% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,922 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,341,000 after buying an additional 4,576 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Wingstop by 17.3% during the 2nd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 741,097 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $249,557,000 after buying an additional 109,108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 287.3% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,593,000 after acquiring an additional 4,695 shares during the period.

Wingstop Trading Down 4.8%

WING stock opened at $248.34 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $260.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $265.77. Wingstop Inc. has a 52 week low of $204.00 and a 52 week high of $388.14. The company has a market cap of $6.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.80.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $175.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $177.74 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 25.01% and a negative return on equity of 16.12%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Wingstop’s payout ratio is currently 19.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WING shares. Melius Research set a $350.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Wingstop in a report on Monday, December 29th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $374.00 price target on Wingstop and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wingstop has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $336.07.

Wingstop Profile

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.