Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) Stake Reduced by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC lowered its position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 16,483 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 343 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $6,858,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in Wingstop in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Wingstop during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in Wingstop by 60.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 93 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 60.6% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 106 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wingstop by 384.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 126 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $390.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $450.00 to $365.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BTIG Research raised shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Wingstop from $417.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.74.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of WING opened at $328.77 on Friday. Wingstop Inc. has a one year low of $238.06 and a one year high of $433.86. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $364.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $380.91. The company has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a PE ratio of 95.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.76.

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

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.49%.

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.