Whitbread (LON:WTB) Trading Down 11.3% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Whitbread plc (LON:WTB) were down 11.3% on Saturday . The stock traded as low as GBX 2,490 and last traded at GBX 2,493.73. Approximately 2,620,126 shares were traded 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 Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on WTB shares. 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 restated a “buy” rating on shares of Whitbread in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Peel Hunt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 3,500 price target on shares of Whitbread in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Whitbread from GBX 3,600 to GBX 3,800 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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 analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of GBX 3,480.

Whitbread Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 3,004.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 2,997.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 33.18. The company 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.

Whitbread (LON:WTB) last released 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, research analysts predict that Whitbread plc will post 227.1851852 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Richard Gillingwater bought 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 2,974 per share, for a total transaction of £14,870. Also, insider Christine Mary Hodgson purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of GBX 2,880 per share, for a total transaction of £288,000. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

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.