MetLife Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

MetLife Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,483 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 343 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned 0.06% of Wingstop worth $6,858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Wingstop by 7.8% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 647,677 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $269,485,000 after acquiring an additional 46,772 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 36.6% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 602,990 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $254,860,000 after purchasing an additional 161,600 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 40.8% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 465,368 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $193,630,000 after purchasing an additional 134,802 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Wingstop by 284.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 383,184 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $161,957,000 after purchasing an additional 283,412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Wingstop by 66.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 325,920 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $137,753,000 after buying an additional 130,248 shares during the period.

Wingstop Stock Performance

Shares of WING stock opened at $328.77 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.85, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.76. Wingstop Inc. has a one year low of $238.06 and a one year high of $433.86. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $364.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $380.91.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.09). Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 22.69% and a net margin of 17.05%. The firm had revenue of $162.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.69 EPS. Wingstop’s revenue was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. Wingstop’s payout ratio is 31.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on WING. Benchmark upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $340.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $458.00 to $377.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $390.00 price objective on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays decreased their target price on Wingstop from $470.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.74.

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.