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

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

WTB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Peel Hunt reissued a “buy” rating and set a GBX 3,500 price objective on shares of Whitbread in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Panmure Gordon reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 3,700 price objective on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Whitbread from GBX 2,800 to GBX 2,900 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Shore Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Citigroup upped 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Whitbread presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of GBX 3,480.

Whitbread Stock Down 11.3%

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

Whitbread (LON:WTB) last issued its 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, analysts forecast that Whitbread plc will post 227.1851852 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Richard Gillingwater acquired 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 21st. The stock was purchased at an average price 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. 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.