Pacer Advisors Inc. Buys 8,757 Shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 131.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,399 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,757 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned about 0.05% of Wingstop worth $4,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in Wingstop by 5.0% in the third quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 547 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 53.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 100 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its position in Wingstop by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 11,523 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,794,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in Wingstop by 60.6% during the 3rd 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, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Wingstop by 15.1% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 313 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.38, for a total value of $86,285.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,285.08. The trade was a 50.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WING. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Wingstop from $417.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Wingstop from $450.00 to $365.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Benchmark upgraded Wingstop from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $340.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $468.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wingstop has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $383.32.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of WING opened at $305.76 on Friday. Wingstop Inc. has a 1 year low of $266.45 and a 1 year high of $433.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $300.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $348.99. The firm has a market cap of $8.93 billion, a PE ratio of 89.14, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.81.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $162.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.24 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 17.05% and a negative return on equity of 22.69%. The company’s revenue was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.69 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.