Whitbread (LON:WTB) Shares Down 11.3% – Should You Sell?

Whitbread plc (LON:WTB)’s share price traded down 11.3% during mid-day trading on Saturday . The stock traded as low as GBX 2,490 and last traded at GBX 2,493.73. 2,620,126 shares changed hands 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 Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Panmure Gordon restated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 3,700 target price on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Tuesday. Peel Hunt reiterated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 3,500 price objective on shares of Whitbread in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. 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. Citigroup raised their price target on Whitbread from GBX 3,600 to GBX 3,800 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Shore Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Whitbread in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Whitbread presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of GBX 3,480.

Whitbread Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of £4.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.43, a PEG ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50 day moving average of GBX 3,004.93 and a 200-day moving average of GBX 2,998.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 33.18.

Whitbread (LON:WTB) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Whitbread plc will post 227.1851852 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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