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

Shares of Whitbread plc (LON:WTB) dropped 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. 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WTB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Whitbread from GBX 2,800 to GBX 2,900 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Peel Hunt restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 3,500 price target on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Whitbread from GBX 3,600 to GBX 3,800 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Shore Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Whitbread in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Panmure Gordon restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 3,700 target price on shares of Whitbread in a research report on Tuesday. Five equities 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of GBX 3,480.

Whitbread Stock Down 11.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of £4.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.43, a P/E/G 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. The firm’s fifty day moving average is GBX 3,018.16 and its 200-day moving average is GBX 2,999.53.

Whitbread (LON:WTB) last posted 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Whitbread plc will post 227.1851852 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Whitbread

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