Whitbread (LON:WTB) Stock Price Down 11.3% – Time to Sell?

Whitbread plc (LON:WTB)’s stock price dropped 11.3% during trading on Saturday . The company 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on WTB. Citigroup raised their price target on Whitbread from GBX 3,600 to GBX 3,800 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Whitbread from GBX 2,800 to GBX 2,900 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Panmure Gordon reiterated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 3,700 price target on shares of Whitbread in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Shore Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Peel Hunt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a GBX 3,500 target price on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of GBX 3,480.

Whitbread Stock Down 11.3%

The stock has a market cap of £4.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a fifty 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 earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The company reported GBX 133.70 earnings per share for the quarter. Whitbread had a return on equity of 6.83% and a net margin of 8.08%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Whitbread plc will post 227.1851852 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Whitbread

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