Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $1.76 Million Stake in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 29.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,190 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,420 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $1,759,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WING. State Street Corp boosted its stake 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. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 0.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 816,991 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $326,020,000 after acquiring an additional 7,204 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted 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 purchasing an additional 46,772 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Wingstop by 40.8% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 465,368 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $193,630,000 after purchasing an additional 134,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Wingstop by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 418,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $174,095,000 after purchasing an additional 71,300 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WING shares. TD Securities reduced their price target on Wingstop from $365.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 target price (down from $375.00) on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Wingstop from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Wingstop from $359.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wingstop presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.67.

Wingstop Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Wingstop stock opened at $213.20 on Friday. Wingstop Inc. has a 1 year low of $207.53 and a 1 year high of $433.86. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $270.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $325.57. The company has a market cap of $6.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.47, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.88.

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

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is 29.11%.

About Wingstop

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.