Xponance Inc. Buys 241 Shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Xponance Inc. increased its stake in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,009 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $1,708,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WING. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Wingstop by 9.1% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 686 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Wingstop by 6.6% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 13,269 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,521,000 after acquiring an additional 822 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Wingstop during the third quarter worth $4,983,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Wingstop by 6.9% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,954 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,310,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Wingstop by 7.8% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 647,677 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $269,485,000 after buying an additional 46,772 shares during the last quarter.

Wingstop Stock Performance

NASDAQ WING opened at $215.46 on Friday. Wingstop Inc. has a 52-week low of $205.60 and a 52-week high of $433.86. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $262.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $317.74. The company has a market capitalization of $6.18 billion, a PE ratio of 58.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.88.

Wingstop announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $280.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Benchmark lowered their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $340.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wingstop currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $357.67.

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.