Securian Asset Management Inc. Lowers Position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Securian Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,208 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 131 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $628,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WING. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wingstop in the fourth quarter worth $115,301,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 984.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 217,946 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $90,683,000 after buying an additional 197,853 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 392.5% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 184,068 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $76,587,000 after buying an additional 146,692 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 134,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 20.5% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 418,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $174,095,000 after buying an additional 71,300 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WING has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Benchmark decreased their price target on shares of Wingstop from $340.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group decreased 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Wingstop from $389.00 to $375.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $357.67.

Wingstop Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ WING opened at $213.20 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $269.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $323.21. The stock has a market cap of $6.11 billion, a PE ratio of 57.47, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.88. Wingstop Inc. has a 12 month low of $207.53 and a 12 month high of $433.86.

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

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

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

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.