Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 85.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 870 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 5,208 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WING. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 2,628 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $747,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Wingstop in the fourth quarter worth about $216,000. Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its stake in Wingstop by 32.5% during the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 35,675 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,139,000 after purchasing an additional 8,746 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Wingstop by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 3,709 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,054,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wingstop during the fourth quarter worth $368,000.

Wingstop Price Performance

Shares of WING opened at $303.70 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $8.87 billion, a PE ratio of 88.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $300.92 and a 200-day moving average of $349.30. Wingstop Inc. has a one year low of $266.45 and a one year high of $433.86.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.09). Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 22.69% and a net margin of 17.05%. The business had revenue of $162.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.24 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. Wingstop’s quarterly revenue was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Wingstop announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wingstop

In other news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.38, for a total transaction of $86,285.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,285.08. This trade represents a 50.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price target (down from $375.00) on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Tuesday. BTIG Research raised Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Wingstop from $375.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $468.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Wingstop from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $385.00 to $389.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Wingstop currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $383.32.

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.