Whitbread (LON:WTB) Stock Price Down 7.8% – What’s Next?

Whitbread plc (LON:WTB)’s stock price traded down 7.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as GBX 2,554 and last traded at GBX 2,594. 12,647,593 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 414% from the average session volume of 2,458,673 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 2,812.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on WTB. Panmure Gordon reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a GBX 3,700 price target on shares of Whitbread in a report on Tuesday. Peel Hunt reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 3,500 target price on shares of Whitbread in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Citigroup boosted their target price 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. Shore Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of GBX 3,480.

Whitbread Stock Down 7.8%

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of GBX 3,018.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of GBX 2,999.53. The stock has a market capitalization of £4.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.13, 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The company reported GBX 133.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Whitbread had a return on equity of 6.83% and a net margin of 8.08%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Whitbread plc will post 227.1851852 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

About Whitbread

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.