Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,890,000 shares, a growth of 16.0% from the February 13th total of 1,630,000 shares. Currently, 6.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 744,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $280.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price target (down previously from $375.00) on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. TD Securities lowered their price objective on Wingstop from $365.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Wingstop from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Northcoast Research lowered Wingstop from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wingstop currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wingstop

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WING. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,177,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Wingstop by 277.5% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,771 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,356,000 after buying an additional 3,507 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its holdings in Wingstop by 779.1% in the fourth quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 18,461 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,247,000 after buying an additional 16,361 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Wingstop by 475.0% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 69,234 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $19,676,000 after acquiring an additional 57,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Conway Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wingstop during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,544,000.

Wingstop Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WING opened at $207.00 on Wednesday. Wingstop has a fifty-two week low of $205.60 and a fifty-two week high of $433.86. The firm has a market cap of $5.93 billion, a PE ratio of 55.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.88. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $266.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $320.74.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Wingstop’s payout ratio is currently 29.11%.

Wingstop declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Wingstop

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.