Whitbread (LON:WTB) Trading Down 11.3% – Time to Sell?

by · The Markets Daily

Whitbread plc (LON:WTB – Get Free Report) shares traded down 11.3% during mid-day trading on Saturday . The company traded as low as GBX 2,490 and last traded at GBX 2,493.73. 2,620,126 shares were traded during 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

WTB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on Whitbread from GBX 3,600 to GBX 3,800 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Shore Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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 reissued a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 3,500 price objective on shares of Whitbread in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Panmure Gordon restated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 3,700 target price on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of GBX 3,480.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Whitbread

Whitbread Trading Down 11.3%

The company has a market capitalization of £4.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s fifty day moving average is GBX 3,004.93 and its 200-day moving average is GBX 2,997.14. 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 – Get Free Report) last posted its 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, analysts anticipate that Whitbread plc will post 227.1851852 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christine Mary Hodgson purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 2,880 per share, with a total value of £288,000. Also, insider Richard Gillingwater bought 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 2,974 per share, for a total transaction of £14,870. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

About Whitbread

(Get Free Report)

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.

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