Whitbread (LON:WTB) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Whitbread plc (LON:WTB)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as GBX 3,535 and last traded at GBX 2,530, with a volume of 586800 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 2,542.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Whitbread to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from GBX 3,375 to GBX 2,815 in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Whitbread from GBX 2,450 to GBX 2,550 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Berenberg Bank cut Whitbread to a “hold” rating and set a GBX 2,900 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 19th. Citigroup upped their target price on Whitbread from GBX 3,100 to GBX 3,300 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Panmure Gordon reissued a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 3,700 price target on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of GBX 3,127.50.

Whitbread Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of GBX 2,667.15 and a 200 day moving average of GBX 2,831.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 178.99. The stock has a market capitalization of £4.23 billion, a PE ratio of 17.64, a PEG ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 0.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Whitbread

In other Whitbread news, insider Kal Atwal bought 462 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 2,737 per share, with a total value of £12,644.94. Also, insider Christine Mary Hodgson bought 7,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of GBX 2,706 per share, with a total value of £209,715. Insiders own 0.39% 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.