Whitbread plc (LON:WTB) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Whitbread has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from eight analysts, with five buys and three holds. The average 12-month price target is GBX 6,523.12.
• Recent analyst views were mixed: Shore Capital, UBS and Citigroup maintained buy ratings, while Berenberg and Deutsche Bank kept hold ratings and lowered or set more conservative targets.
• Whitbread shares opened at GBX 2,510, with a market capitalization of approximately £4.20 billion. Insiders recently purchased shares, though insider ownership remains low at 0.42%.

Shares of Whitbread plc (LON:WTB - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is GBX 6,523.12.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Shore Capital Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a GBX 3,700 target price on shares of Whitbread in a report on Thursday, June 18th. 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 reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a GBX 2,280 target price on shares of Whitbread in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Whitbread from GBX 2,815 to GBX 2,530 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Whitbread from £330 to £310 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 19th.

Insider Activity

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

Whitbread Price Performance

Shares of LON:WTB opened at GBX 2,510 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 174.28, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market capitalization of £4.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 0.65. Whitbread has a 12 month low of GBX 2,098 and a 12 month high of GBX 3,302. The business's 50 day simple moving average is GBX 2,397.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is GBX 2,474.88.

Whitbread (LON:WTB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported GBX 123.30 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of GBX 292.02 billion during the quarter. Whitbread had a return on equity of 6.73% and a net margin of 7.29%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Whitbread will post 227.1851852 earnings per share 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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