Federated Hermes Inc. Acquires 19,540 Shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,107,852 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,540 shares during the quarter. Wingstop comprises approximately 0.7% of Federated Hermes Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 3.77% of Wingstop worth $284,253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WING. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Wingstop by 542.8% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,773 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,764,000 after buying an additional 9,097 shares during the period. Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Wingstop during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,021,000. Strs Ohio grew its position in shares of Wingstop by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 79,100 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $20,295,000 after buying an additional 8,700 shares during the period. Teza Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wingstop during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,961,000. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Wingstop by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 1,605 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter.

Wingstop Stock Performance

WING traded up $6.07 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $365.64. The stock had a trading volume of 75,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 460,846. The company has a market cap of $10.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 153.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.57 and a beta of 1.68. The business has a fifty day moving average of $346.29 and a 200 day moving average of $272.61. Wingstop Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.08 and a 1 year high of $379.00.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The restaurant operator reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $127.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.47 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 15.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Wingstop Inc. will post 3 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on WING. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $340.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Wingstop from $320.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Wingstop from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $410.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Wingstop from $310.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Wingstop currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $290.83.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total value of $3,658,428.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 17,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,771,901.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Wingstop news, SVP Marisa Carona sold 2,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.96, for a total transaction of $961,888.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $612,246.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total value of $3,658,428.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,771,901.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,901 shares of company stock valued at $5,120,605. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wingstop Profile

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.