Whitbread (LON:WTB) Given “Overweight” Rating at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Whitbread (LON:WTB – Get Rating) in a report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a GBX 4,300 ($53.48) price target on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on WTB. Numis Securities reaffirmed a buy rating and set a GBX 3,510 ($43.66) price objective on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a buy rating and set a GBX 3,500 ($43.53) target price on shares of Whitbread in a research report on Tuesday, February 14th. Finally, Peel Hunt reiterated a buy rating and set a GBX 4,000 ($49.75) target price on shares of Whitbread in a research report on Friday, April 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of GBX 3,727.50 ($46.36).

Whitbread Price Performance

Shares of LON:WTB opened at GBX 3,330 ($41.42) on Tuesday. Whitbread has a twelve month low of GBX 2,245.51 ($27.93) and a twelve month high of GBX 3,649.99 ($45.40). The company’s 50 day moving average is GBX 3,091.20 and its 200 day moving average is GBX 2,922.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 120.44. The company has a market cap of £6.69 billion, a PE ratio of 2,413.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 1.10.

Whitbread Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 25th will be paid a dividend of GBX 49.80 ($0.62) per share. This is a boost from Whitbread’s previous dividend of $24.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 25th. This represents a yield of 1.59%. Whitbread’s payout ratio is presently 5,362.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Whitbread

In other news, insider Dame Karen Jones acquired 275 shares of Whitbread stock in a transaction on Monday, February 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of GBX 3,140 ($39.05) per share, for a total transaction of £8,635 ($10,740.05). 3.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Whitbread Company Profile

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Whitbread plc operates hotels and restaurants in the United Kingdom, Germany, and internationally. It operates approximately 841 hotels with 82,286 rooms in the United Kingdom; 10 hotels in the Middle East; and 35 hotels with 5,875 rooms in Germany under the Premier Inn, ZIP by Premier Inn, and hub by Premier Inn brands.