Norges Bank Makes New Investment in Wingstop Inc. $WING

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 324,251 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $77,331,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Wingstop by 76.9% during the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 138 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Wingstop by 197.9% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 143 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Wingstop by 54.3% during the third quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new position in Wingstop during the third quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Wingstop by 121.4% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 217 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period.

Wingstop Trading Down 1.6%

NASDAQ WING opened at $142.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.38, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a 50 day moving average of $156.95 and a 200-day moving average of $215.84. Wingstop Inc. has a 1-year low of $116.35 and a 1-year high of $388.14.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The company 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 was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on WING. Barclays cut their price target 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Wingstop from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $325.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Wingstop from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Mizuho set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $276.61.

Wingstop Company 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.