American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 22,552 Shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,206,062 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 22,552 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 4.13% of Wingstop worth $342,763,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Wingstop during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Wingstop by 521.4% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Wingstop by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 91 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Wingstop during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in Wingstop by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 143 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter.

Wingstop Stock Down 2.1 %

WING stock opened at $215.46 on Friday. Wingstop Inc. has a twelve month low of $205.60 and a twelve month high of $433.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.88. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $262.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $318.12.

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

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Wingstop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on WING. TD Securities lowered their price target on shares of Wingstop from $365.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Wingstop from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 target price (down previously from $375.00) on shares of Wingstop in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wedbush lowered their target price on shares of Wingstop from $390.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.67.

Wingstop 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.