Fred Alger Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Fred Alger Management LLC lowered its position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 256,808 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 62,737 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC owned approximately 0.88% of Wingstop worth $106,853,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,859 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,190,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Wingstop by 5.4% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 6,603 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in Wingstop during the third quarter valued at about $4,890,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Wingstop during the third quarter valued at about $1,802,000. Finally, Blueshift Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Wingstop by 416.9% during the third quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 17,637 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,338,000 after buying an additional 14,225 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Wingstop from $417.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Wingstop from $407.00 to $423.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Wingstop from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $458.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $450.00 to $365.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.74.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of Wingstop stock opened at $331.27 on Friday. Wingstop Inc. has a 1 year low of $232.88 and a 1 year high of $433.86. The company has a 50-day moving average of $364.87 and a 200 day moving average of $380.91. The firm has a market cap of $9.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.58, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.76.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.09). Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 22.69% and a net margin of 17.05%. The company had revenue of $162.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. Wingstop’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Wingstop’s payout ratio is currently 31.49%.

Wingstop Company 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.