Whitbread (LON:WTB) Shares Down 11.3% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Whitbread plc (LON:WTB) were down 11.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as GBX 2,490 and last traded at GBX 2,493.73. Approximately 2,620,126 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 8% from the average daily volume of 2,415,451 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 2,812.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Panmure Gordon reiterated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 3,700 price objective on shares of Whitbread in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Whitbread from GBX 2,800 to GBX 2,900 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Peel Hunt restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 3,500 price target on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Whitbread from GBX 3,600 to GBX 3,800 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Shore Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Whitbread presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of GBX 3,480.

Whitbread Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 33.18, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market cap of £4.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.43, a P/E/G ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average of GBX 3,018.16 and a 200 day moving average of GBX 2,999.53.

Whitbread (LON:WTB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The company reported GBX 133.70 earnings per share for the quarter. Whitbread had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 6.83%. On average, analysts expect that Whitbread plc will post 227.1851852 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Whitbread

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

Whitbread Company Profile

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.