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

Shares of Whitbread plc (LON:WTB) fell 11.3% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as GBX 2,490 and last traded at GBX 2,493.73. 2,620,126 shares were traded 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 Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WTB shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Whitbread from GBX 3,600 to GBX 3,800 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Whitbread from GBX 2,800 to GBX 2,900 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Peel Hunt restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 3,500 price objective on shares of Whitbread in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Panmure Gordon reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a GBX 3,700 price objective on shares of Whitbread in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Shore Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of GBX 3,480.

Whitbread Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 33.18, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 3,004.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of GBX 2,997.14. The company has a market capitalization 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.

Whitbread (LON:WTB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The company reported GBX 133.70 EPS for the quarter. Whitbread had a return on equity of 6.83% and a net margin of 8.08%. On average, research analysts expect that Whitbread plc will post 227.1851852 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Whitbread

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

About Whitbread

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.