Whitbread (LON:WTB) Trading Down 11.3% – Should You Sell?

Whitbread plc (LON:WTB) shares were down 11.3% on Friday . The stock 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

WTB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Peel Hunt reissued a “buy” rating and set a GBX 3,500 price target on shares of Whitbread in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Panmure Gordon reiterated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 3,700 target price on shares of Whitbread in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Citigroup increased their price target on Whitbread from GBX 3,600 to GBX 3,800 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Shore Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Whitbread in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. 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, Whitbread presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of GBX 3,480.

Whitbread Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is GBX 3,004.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is GBX 2,998.16. The stock has a market capitalization of £4.26 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 released its quarterly 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%. Analysts expect that Whitbread plc will post 227.1851852 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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