Whitbread (LON:WTB) Shares Cross Below 200-Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Whitbread shares fell below their 200-day moving average on Wednesday, dipping as low as GBX 2,276 before last trading around GBX 2,330.32.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but constructive, with five Buy ratings and three Hold ratings, giving the stock a consensus Moderate Buy and an average target price of GBX 6,523.12.
• Insiders recently bought shares, including purchases by Shelley Roberts and Dominic Paul, even as the company carries notable leverage with a debt-to-equity ratio of 174.28.

Whitbread plc (LON:WTB - Get Free Report)'s stock price crossed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of GBX 2,482.90 and traded as low as GBX 2,276. Whitbread shares last traded at GBX 2,330.32, with a volume of 29,911,199 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WTB shares. Shore Capital Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a GBX 3,700 target price on shares of Whitbread in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a GBX 2,280 price target on shares of Whitbread in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Whitbread from GBX 2,815 to GBX 2,530 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Whitbread from £330 to £310 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Whitbread from GBX 2,550 to GBX 2,500 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Whitbread presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of GBX 6,523.12.

Whitbread Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 174.28. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 2,372.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 2,482.90. The stock has a market cap of £3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.04, a PEG ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 0.65.

Whitbread (LON:WTB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported GBX 123.30 EPS for the quarter. Whitbread had a return on equity of 6.73% and a net margin of 7.29%.The company had revenue of GBX 292.02 billion during the quarter. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Whitbread plc will post 227.1851852 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Whitbread

In other news, insider Shelley Roberts acquired 1,290 shares of Whitbread stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 2,309 per share, for a total transaction of £29,786.10. Also, insider Dominic Paul acquired 717 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 2,410 per share, with a total value of £17,279.70. Company insiders own 0.42% 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.