Whitbread (LON:WTB) Trading Down 10.3% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Whitbread plc's stock price fell by 10.3% on Thursday, trading as low as GBX 2,876 ($38.66), and closing at GBX 2,893 ($38.89).
• Despite the recent drop, several analysts, including Peel Hunt and Shore Capital, have maintained a "buy" rating for the stock with a price target around GBX 3,500.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share of GBX 133.70 and has a market capitalization of £4.99 billion.

Whitbread plc (LON:WTB - Get Free Report)'s stock price dropped 10.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as GBX 2,876 ($38.66) and last traded at GBX 2,893 ($38.89). Approximately 2,658,615 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 58% from the average daily volume of 1,682,901 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 3,224 ($43.34).

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTB has been the topic of several research reports. Peel Hunt reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a GBX 3,500 price objective on shares of Whitbread in a report on Thursday. Shore Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Whitbread in a report on Thursday. Berenberg Bank reduced their price objective on Whitbread from GBX 3,900 to GBX 3,500 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Whitbread from GBX 3,600 to GBX 3,800 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of GBX 3,600.

Whitbread Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 3,152.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of GBX 2,921.34. 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 company has a market cap of £4.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2,057.61, a P/E/G ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 1.11.

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

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.

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