Freedom Investment Management Inc. Invests $351,000 in Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 843 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $351,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 206.6% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,287 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $967,000 after buying an additional 1,541 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Wingstop by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 193,307 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $81,703,000 after purchasing an additional 7,600 shares in the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC bought a new stake in Wingstop in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,249,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wingstop during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,010,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 36.6% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 602,990 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $254,860,000 after purchasing an additional 161,600 shares during the period.

Wingstop Stock Performance

NASDAQ WING opened at $328.77 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $363.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $380.58. The stock has a market cap of $9.60 billion, a PE ratio of 95.85, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.76. Wingstop Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $238.06 and a fifty-two week high of $433.86.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $162.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.69 EPS. Wingstop’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WING has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on Wingstop from $417.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Wingstop from $450.00 to $365.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $390.00 price target on shares of Wingstop in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.74.

Wingstop Company 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.