Whitbread (LON:WTB) Sets New 12-Month High - What's Next?

Key Points

• 52-week high: Whitbread shares hit a new 52-week intraday high of GBX 3,535 and last traded at GBX 2,530 (prior close GBX 2,542) on volume of 586,800 shares.
• Analyst picture: The consensus rating is Moderate Buy with an average price target of GBX 3,127.50; four analysts rate Buy and three Hold, with recent targets and revisions ranging roughly GBX 2,450–3,700.
• Insider activity and fundamentals: Recent insider purchases (e.g., Christine Hodgson bought 7,750 shares at GBX 2,706) coincide with a market cap of £4.24bn, a PE of 17.68 and a high debt-to-equity ratio of 178.99.

Whitbread plc (LON:WTB - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day 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 research analysts have recently commented on WTB shares. Berenberg Bank cut Whitbread to a "hold" rating and set a GBX 2,900 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Whitbread from GBX 3,100 to GBX 3,300 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Panmure Gordon restated a "buy" rating and set a GBX 3,700 price target on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Whitbread to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from GBX 3,375 to GBX 2,815 in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Whitbread from GBX 2,450 to GBX 2,550 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of GBX 3,127.50.

Whitbread Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of £4.24 billion, a PE ratio of 17.68, a P/E/G ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 178.99, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The firm's 50 day moving average price is GBX 2,667.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is GBX 2,837.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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