Ieq Capital LLC Acquires 15,761 Shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Ieq Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 777.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,789 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,761 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $5,056,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its position in Wingstop by 35.0% in the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 13,836 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,932,000 after purchasing an additional 3,588 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in Wingstop by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 81,393 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $23,132,000 after purchasing an additional 2,178 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS increased its position in Wingstop by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 21,551 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,125,000 after purchasing an additional 5,775 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in Wingstop by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 897 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Wingstop by 103.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 256 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period.

Wingstop Stock Performance

NASDAQ WING opened at $234.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.08, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.81. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $288.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $340.46. Wingstop Inc. has a 52 week low of $232.19 and a 52 week high of $433.86.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.11%.

Wingstop declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on WING. Northcoast Research lowered Wingstop from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective (down from $375.00) on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Wingstop from $389.00 to $375.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Benchmark cut their price objective on Wingstop from $340.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on Wingstop from $450.00 to $365.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wingstop has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $367.05.

Insider Transactions at Wingstop

In related news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.38, for a total transaction of $86,285.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,285.08. The trade was a 50.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

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.