Insider Selling: Whitbread plc (LON:WTB) Insider Sells 3,206 Shares of Stock

Whitbread plc (LON:WTB) insider Dominic Paul sold 3,206 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 2,790 ($37.54), for a total transaction of £89,447.40 ($120,354.41).

Whitbread Stock Performance

LON WTB opened at GBX 2,894 ($38.94) on Friday. Whitbread plc has a 52-week low of GBX 2,253 ($30.31) and a 52-week high of GBX 3,352 ($45.10). The company has a fifty day moving average of GBX 2,631.47 and a 200-day moving average of GBX 2,747.63. The company has a market capitalization of £5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a P/E/G ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 33.18, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Whitbread (LON:WTB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported GBX 194.60 ($2.62) earnings per share for the quarter. Whitbread had a return on equity of 6.83% and a net margin of 8.08%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Whitbread plc will post 227.1851852 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Whitbread declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback 0 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WTB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Whitbread from GBX 3,700 ($49.78) to GBX 3,300 ($44.40) and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Whitbread to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Shore Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Whitbread in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Whitbread has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of GBX 2,860 ($38.48).

About Whitbread

Whitbread is the owner of Premier Inn, the UK’s biggest
hotel brand, with 86,000 rooms in over 850 hotels
and a growing presence in Germany with 10,500 rooms in
59 hotels, offering quality accommodation at affordable
prices in great locations.

People are at the heart of our business. We employ over
38,000 team members in over 900 Premier Inn hotels
across the UK and Germany.