Whitbread (LON:WTB) Stock Price Down 11.3% – What’s Next?

Whitbread plc (LON:WTB)’s stock price was down 11.3% on Friday . The company traded as low as GBX 2,490 and last traded at GBX 2,493.73. Approximately 2,620,126 shares traded hands 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 Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Whitbread Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is GBX 3,004.93 and its 200-day moving average price is GBX 2,998.16. The company 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.

Whitbread (LON:WTB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The company reported GBX 133.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Whitbread had a return on equity of 6.83% and a net margin of 8.08%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Whitbread plc will post 227.1851852 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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