Whitbread (LON:WTB) Shares Down 11.3% – What’s Next?

Whitbread plc (LON:WTB) shares traded down 11.3% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as GBX 2,490 and last traded at GBX 2,493.73. 2,620,126 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 8% from the average session volume of 2,415,451 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 2,812.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Whitbread from GBX 3,600 to GBX 3,800 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Whitbread from GBX 2,800 to GBX 2,900 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Peel Hunt reiterated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 3,500 target price on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Panmure Gordon restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 3,700 price objective on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Shore Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of GBX 3,480.

Whitbread Trading Down 11.3%

The business has a 50 day moving average of GBX 3,004.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of GBX 2,998.16. The firm has a market capitalization of £4.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.43, 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 data on Thursday, October 16th. The company reported GBX 133.70 EPS for the quarter. Whitbread had a return on equity of 6.83% and a net margin of 8.08%. Equities analysts predict that Whitbread plc will post 227.1851852 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Whitbread

In other news, insider Christine Mary Hodgson purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 2,880 per share, with a total value of £288,000. Also, insider Richard Gillingwater bought 500 shares of Whitbread stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of GBX 2,974 per share, with a total value of £14,870. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Whitbread Company Profile

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.