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

Key Points

• Whitbread shares rose above their 200-day moving average, reaching GBX 2,535 before last trading at GBX 2,510, with 318,314 shares changing hands.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive: five firms rate the stock Buy and three rate it Hold, resulting in a “Moderate Buy” consensus, though price targets varied widely from GBX 2,280 to GBX 3,700.
• Insiders recently bought shares, including Dominic Paul’s purchase of 717 shares and Shelley Roberts’ acquisition of 1,290 shares; insiders collectively own 0.42% of Whitbread.

Shares of Whitbread plc (LON:WTB - Get Free Report) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 2,474.88 and traded as high as GBX 2,535. Whitbread shares last traded at GBX 2,510, with a volume of 318,314 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on WTB. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a GBX 2,975 target price on shares of Whitbread in a report on Friday, June 12th. Berenberg Bank restated a "hold" rating and issued a GBX 2,280 price objective on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Shore Capital Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a GBX 3,700 target price on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Whitbread from £330 to £310 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Whitbread from GBX 2,815 to GBX 2,530 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Whitbread presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of GBX 6,523.12.

Whitbread Stock Down 0.7%

The company has a market capitalization of £4.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51, a P/E/G ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 2,397.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 2,474.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 174.28.

Whitbread (LON:WTB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 business had revenue of GBX 292.02 billion for the quarter. Equities analysts expect that Whitbread plc will post 227.1851852 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Whitbread

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

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.

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.