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

Whitbread plc (LON:WTB) shares traded down 11.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted 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 report on Thursday, August 21st. Panmure Gordon reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 3,700 price target on shares of Whitbread in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Shore Capital reissued 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 target price on shares of Whitbread in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Whitbread from GBX 2,800 to GBX 2,900 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of GBX 3,480.

Whitbread Stock Down 11.3%

The firm has a market cap of £4.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is GBX 3,004.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 2,998.16. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The company reported GBX 133.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Whitbread had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 6.83%. Research analysts anticipate that Whitbread plc will post 227.1851852 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Whitbread

In related news, insider Richard Gillingwater bought 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 21st. The shares were purchased 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 firm’s stock in a transaction 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. 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.