Whitbread (LON:WTB) Shares Cross Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average - What's Next?

Whitbread plc (LON:WTB - Get Free Report) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 2,728.72 ($37.10) and traded as high as GBX 2,959 ($40.23). Whitbread shares last traded at GBX 2,925 ($39.76), with a volume of 248,487 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WTB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Shore Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup reduced their price target on Whitbread from GBX 3,700 ($50.30) to GBX 3,300 ($44.86) and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of GBX 2,413.33 ($32.81).

Whitbread Stock Up 1.6%

The company has a market cap of £5.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.14, a PEG ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 1.11. 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's 50-day moving average price is GBX 2,822.63 and its 200-day moving average price is GBX 2,730.21.

Whitbread (LON:WTB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported GBX 194.60 ($2.65) earnings per share for the quarter. Whitbread had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 6.83%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Whitbread plc will post 227.1851852 EPS for the current year.

Whitbread declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase 0 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Whitbread

In other Whitbread news, insider Dominic Paul sold 3,206 shares of Whitbread stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 2,790 ($37.93), for a total value of £89,447.40 ($121,597.88). Also, insider Kal Atwal acquired 269 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 2,843 ($38.65) per share, with a total value of £7,647.67 ($10,396.51). 1.03% of the stock is owned by 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.