Whitbread (LON:WTB) Shares Down 11.3% – Here’s Why

Whitbread plc (LON:WTB) shares dropped 11.3% during trading on Saturday . The company traded as low as GBX 2,490 and last traded at GBX 2,493.73. Approximately 2,620,126 shares traded 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Whitbread Trading Down 11.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 33.18, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of GBX 3,004.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 2,998.16.

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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Whitbread plc will post 227.1851852 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Whitbread

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