Whitbread plc (LON:WTB) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Whitbread plc (LON:WTB) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is GBX 3,480.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on WTB shares. Citigroup lifted 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. Peel Hunt restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 3,500 price objective 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 objective on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Tuesday. Shore Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Whitbread from GBX 2,800 to GBX 2,900 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th.

Whitbread Stock Performance

Shares of LON:WTB traded up GBX 13 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting GBX 2,815. The company had a trading volume of 784,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,431,579. Whitbread has a 12-month low of GBX 2,253 and a 12-month high of GBX 3,302. The company has a fifty day moving average of GBX 3,037.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of GBX 3,002.06. The company has a market cap of £4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.67, a PEG ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 1.11. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The company reported GBX 133.70 earnings per share for the quarter. Whitbread had a return on equity of 6.83% and a net margin of 8.08%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Whitbread will post 227.1851852 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Whitbread

In other news, insider Richard Gillingwater acquired 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 21st. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 2,974 per share, for a total transaction of £14,870. Also, insider Christine Mary Hodgson bought 10,000 shares of Whitbread stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of GBX 2,880 per share, for a total transaction of £288,000. 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.