Whitbread (LON:WTB) Shares Down 10.3% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Whitbread plc shares fell by 10.3% on Thursday, trading as low as GBX 2,876 ($38.55), a significant drop from the previous closing price of GBX 3,224 ($43.22).
• Research analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Whitbread, with four analyst ratings suggesting a buy and an average price target of GBX 3,600.
• The company reported GBX 133.70 earnings per share in its latest quarterly results, with a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 6.83%.

Whitbread plc (LON:WTB - Get Free Report) fell 10.3% on Thursday . The company traded as low as GBX 2,876 ($38.55) and last traded at GBX 2,893 ($38.78). 2,658,615 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 58% from the average session volume of 1,682,901 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 3,224 ($43.22).

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on WTB. Shore Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Thursday. Peel Hunt reissued a "buy" rating and set a GBX 3,500 price objective on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Thursday. Berenberg Bank lowered their price objective on Whitbread from GBX 3,900 to GBX 3,500 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Whitbread from GBX 3,600 to GBX 3,800 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of GBX 3,600.

Whitbread Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 33.18. The stock has a market cap of £4.99 billion, a PE ratio of 2,057.61, a P/E/G ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day moving average of GBX 3,152.79 and a 200-day moving average of GBX 2,921.34.

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

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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