Verition Fund Management LLC Has $9.43 Million Stake in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Verition Fund Management LLC cut its stake in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 62.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,655 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 38,473 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $9,426,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Wingstop in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in Wingstop by 60.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 93 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in Wingstop by 60.6% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 106 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wingstop by 384.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 126 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter.

Wingstop Stock Performance

NASDAQ WING opened at $328.77 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.60 billion, a PE ratio of 95.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $363.05 and a 200-day moving average of $380.58. Wingstop Inc. has a 52-week low of $238.06 and a 52-week high of $433.86.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.09). Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 22.69% and a net margin of 17.05%. The company had revenue of $162.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is 31.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on WING. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective 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. Benchmark raised Wingstop from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $340.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays dropped their target price on Wingstop from $470.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $390.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.74.

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.