Wingstop Inc. $WING Shares Purchased by AQR Capital Management LLC

by · The Cerbat Gem

AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING – Free Report) by 64.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 550,879 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 215,816 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 1.97% of Wingstop worth $123,295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WING. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the first quarter worth $212,672,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Wingstop by 43.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,646,934 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $371,517,000 after acquiring an additional 496,717 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Wingstop by 130.7% in the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 631,989 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $142,564,000 after acquiring an additional 358,044 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Wingstop by 760.9% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 381,745 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $108,497,000 after acquiring an additional 337,401 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Wingstop by 66.3% in the first quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 446,601 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $100,744,000 after acquiring an additional 178,041 shares in the last quarter.

Wingstop Price Performance

NASDAQ WING opened at $308.82 on Friday. Wingstop Inc. has a 12 month low of $204.00 and a 12 month high of $433.86. The company has a market capitalization of $8.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 1.87. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $328.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $291.70.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.12. Wingstop had a net margin of 25.61% and a negative return on equity of 17.07%. The firm had revenue of $174.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Wingstop Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This is an increase from Wingstop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Wingstop’s payout ratio is 20.00%.

Insider Transactions at Wingstop

In other news, CFO Alex Kaleida sold 5,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.09, for a total value of $2,030,886.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,144,864.58. This trade represents a 39.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.34, for a total transaction of $1,666,530.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 42,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,842,034.18. The trade was a 9.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,838 shares of company stock worth $8,118,535. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Melius assumed coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Wingstop from $325.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $440.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Wingstop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Wingstop in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Wingstop has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $379.52.

Get Our Latest Analysis on Wingstop

Wingstop Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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