MML Investors Services LLC Grows Position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 22.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,529 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 470 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $1,052,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 861,783 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $358,571,000 after buying an additional 12,549 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position 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 valued at $269,485,000 after acquiring an additional 46,772 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Wingstop by 36.6% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 602,990 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $254,860,000 after acquiring an additional 161,600 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Wingstop by 40.8% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 465,368 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $193,630,000 after purchasing an additional 134,802 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of Wingstop by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 418,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $174,095,000 after purchasing an additional 71,300 shares during the period.

Wingstop Stock Performance

WING stock opened at $290.36 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $335.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $374.13. Wingstop Inc. has a one year low of $241.78 and a one year high of $433.86. The company has a market capitalization of $8.48 billion, a PE ratio of 84.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.78.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.09). Wingstop had a net margin of 17.05% and a negative return on equity of 22.69%. The company had revenue of $162.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Wingstop’s payout ratio is presently 31.49%.

Wingstop announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $470.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. BTIG Research raised shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $458.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $390.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Wingstop currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.74.

Insider Activity at Wingstop

In related news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.38, for a total transaction of $86,285.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,285.08. This represents a 50.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.