Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Sells 17,330 Shares of Wingstop Inc. $WING

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS reduced its position in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 75.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,520 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 17,330 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $1,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quaker Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 134.2% during the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 104 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Wingstop during the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Wingstop by 4,200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 129 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in Wingstop by 623.8% in the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 152 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 26.2% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 188 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WING. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Wingstop from $365.00 to $330.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $370.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Wingstop from $295.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Wingstop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $295.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wingstop has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $340.00.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WING opened at $272.70 on Thursday. Wingstop Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $204.00 and a fifty-two week high of $388.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.77. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $258.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $274.97.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.18. Wingstop had a net margin of 25.51% and a negative return on equity of 16.17%. The company had revenue of $175.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $189.10 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 21st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.54%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kilandigalu Madati sold 269 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.97, for a total value of $69,931.93. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,373,421.51. This represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

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.