Ben Whitley Acquires 24 Shares of J D Wetherspoon (LON:JDW) Stock

Key Points

• Ben Whitley bought 24 shares on April 14 at GBX 635 (after smaller buys in March and February) but previously sold 6,931 shares on January 26 at GBX 679, showing mixed insider activity.
• Sell‑side analysts have a consensus "Reduce" rating with an average price target of GBX 580, below the recent opening price of GBX 641.50, signaling bearish sentiment.
• The stock trades at a P/E of 11.29 but has high leverage and weak liquidity—debt-to-equity 358.49, current ratio 0.30 and quick ratio 0.19—which may be a risk for investors.

J D Wetherspoon plc (LON:JDW - Get Free Report) insider Ben Whitley purchased 24 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 635 per share, for a total transaction of £152.40.

Ben Whitley also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, March 12th, Ben Whitley purchased 22 shares of J D Wetherspoon stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 671 per share, for a total transaction of £147.62.
• On Thursday, February 19th, Ben Whitley purchased 20 shares of J D Wetherspoon stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 764 per share, for a total transaction of £152.80.
• On Monday, January 26th, Ben Whitley sold 6,931 shares of J D Wetherspoon stock. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 679, for a total value of £47,061.49.

J D Wetherspoon Stock Up 0.2%

LON JDW opened at GBX 641.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of £676.18 million, a PE ratio of 11.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.11. J D Wetherspoon plc has a one year low of GBX 530.50 and a one year high of GBX 814.50. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is GBX 663.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 675.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 358.49, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.19.

J D Wetherspoon (LON:JDW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 20th. The company reported GBX 15.50 EPS for the quarter. J D Wetherspoon had a return on equity of 15.81% and a net margin of 2.52%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that J D Wetherspoon plc will post 52.8508772 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JDW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Shore Capital Group restated a "hold" rating on shares of J D Wetherspoon in a report on Friday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on J D Wetherspoon from GBX 490 to GBX 460 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of GBX 580.

About J D Wetherspoon

J D Wetherspoon owns and operates pubs and hotels throughout the UK and Ireland. The company aims to provide customers with good-quality food and drinks, served by well-trained and friendly staff, at reasonable prices. The pubs are individually designed, and the company aims to maintain them in excellent condition.

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