Whitbread (LON:WTB) Price Target Lowered to GBX 3,500 at Berenberg Bank

Whitbread (LON:WTB - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by equities research analysts at Berenberg Bank from GBX 3,900 ($52.61) to GBX 3,500 ($47.21) in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Berenberg Bank's price objective points to a potential upside of 15.66% from the stock's previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on WTB. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Whitbread from GBX 3,700 ($49.91) to GBX 3,300 ($44.52) and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Shore Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of GBX 2,280 ($30.76).

Whitbread Price Performance

Shares of Whitbread stock traded down GBX 56 ($0.76) during trading on Wednesday, hitting GBX 3,026 ($40.82). 1,949,209 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,956,816. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 33.18. Whitbread has a fifty-two week low of GBX 2,253 ($30.39) and a fifty-two week high of GBX 3,352 ($45.22). The stock has a market capitalization of £5.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.40, a P/E/G ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 2,844.95 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 2,733.51.

Whitbread (LON:WTB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported GBX 194.60 ($2.63) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Whitbread had a return on equity of 6.83% and a net margin of 8.08%. On average, equities analysts expect that Whitbread will post 227.1851852 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Whitbread announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback 0 shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Hemant Patel sold 2,607 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 2,790 ($37.64), for a total transaction of £72,735.30 ($98,118.58). Also, insider Kal Atwal purchased 269 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of GBX 2,843 ($38.35) per share, with a total value of £7,647.67 ($10,316.57). 1.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.