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

Shares of Whitbread plc (LON:WTB) fell 11.3% on Saturday . The company traded as low as GBX 2,490 and last traded at GBX 2,493.73. 2,620,126 shares traded hands 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 Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WTB shares. Peel Hunt reissued a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 3,500 target price on shares of Whitbread in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Shore Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Whitbread from GBX 3,600 to GBX 3,800 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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. Finally, Panmure Gordon reissued a “buy” rating and set a GBX 3,700 price target on shares of Whitbread in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of GBX 3,480.

Whitbread Stock Down 11.3%

The company has a market capitalization of £4.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a P/E/G ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50-day moving average of GBX 3,004.93 and a 200 day moving average of GBX 2,999.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 33.18, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 1.74.

Whitbread (LON:WTB) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Whitbread plc will post 227.1851852 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Whitbread

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

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.