KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys Shares of 5,900 Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,900 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,677,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WING. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Wingstop by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,206,062 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $342,763,000 after acquiring an additional 22,552 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Wingstop by 1.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 861,783 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $358,571,000 after purchasing an additional 12,549 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Wingstop by 0.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 816,991 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $326,020,000 after purchasing an additional 7,204 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 418,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $174,095,000 after purchasing an additional 71,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Wingstop during the 4th quarter worth $115,301,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WING has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 price target (down previously from $375.00) on shares of Wingstop in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Wingstop from $359.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Northcoast Research lowered shares of Wingstop from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wedbush cut their target price on Wingstop from $390.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $353.68.

Wingstop Stock Down 2.3 %

WING stock opened at $224.00 on Friday. Wingstop Inc. has a 52-week low of $205.60 and a 52-week high of $433.86. The firm has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.38, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.88. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $257.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $313.00.

Wingstop declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in 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 an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.11%.

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.