Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC Boosts Stake in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC raised its position in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 173,650 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 6,177 shares during the quarter. Wingstop comprises 1.0% of Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $49,351,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wingstop in the 4th quarter valued at $115,301,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 984.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 217,946 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $90,683,000 after purchasing an additional 197,853 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 392.5% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 184,068 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $76,587,000 after purchasing an additional 146,692 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in Wingstop by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 418,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $174,095,000 after buying an additional 71,300 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Wingstop during the 4th quarter worth approximately $19,653,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Wingstop from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Wingstop from $335.00 to $300.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price objective (down from $375.00) on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim raised shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $280.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Benchmark dropped their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $340.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wingstop has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.67.

Wingstop Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WING opened at $215.46 on Monday. Wingstop Inc. has a 52 week low of $205.60 and a 52 week high of $433.86. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $262.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $317.30. The company has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.08, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.88.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.11%.

Wingstop announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board 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.