Whitbread (LON:WTB) Trading Down 11.3% – Should You Sell?

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTB has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Whitbread from GBX 3,600 to GBX 3,800 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Whitbread from GBX 2,800 to GBX 2,900 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Peel Hunt restated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 3,500 price target on shares of Whitbread in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Panmure Gordon reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 3,700 price target on shares of Whitbread in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Shore Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of GBX 3,480.

Whitbread Stock Down 11.3%

The stock has a market cap 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 business has a fifty day moving average of GBX 3,004.93 and a 200 day moving average of GBX 2,998.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 33.18, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 1.74.

Whitbread (LON:WTB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The company reported GBX 133.70 EPS for the quarter. Whitbread had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 6.83%. On average, equities analysts predict that Whitbread plc will post 227.1851852 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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