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

Whitbread plc (LON:WTB)’s stock price fell 11.3% on Friday . The company traded as low as GBX 2,490 and last traded at GBX 2,493.73. 2,620,126 shares were traded 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Whitbread Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is GBX 3,004.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is GBX 2,997.14. The company has a market capitalization of £4.26 billion, a P/E 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 current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 1.74.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Richard Gillingwater purchased 500 shares of the business’s 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 purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 2,880 per share, for a total transaction of £288,000. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

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.