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 changed 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WTB shares. Panmure Gordon restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 3,700 price objective on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Tuesday. 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. Shore Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Whitbread in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Whitbread from GBX 2,800 to GBX 2,900 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Citigroup lifted 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Whitbread 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 price-to-earnings ratio of 17.43, a P/E/G 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 2,997.14. 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 for the quarter. Whitbread had a return on equity of 6.83% and a net margin of 8.08%. Research analysts forecast that Whitbread plc will post 227.1851852 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Whitbread

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