Whitbread plc (LON:WTB) Receives GBX 2,413.33 Average Target Price from Analysts

Whitbread plc (LON:WTB - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is GBX 2,413.33 ($33.14).

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WTB shares. Shore Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Whitbread in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup lowered their target price on Whitbread from GBX 3,700 ($50.81) to GBX 3,300 ($45.32) and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Whitbread to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Whitbread

In other news, insider Dominic Paul sold 3,206 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 2,790 ($38.31), for a total transaction of £89,447.40 ($122,833.56). Also, insider Kal Atwal purchased 269 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of GBX 2,843 ($39.04) per share, with a total value of £7,647.67 ($10,502.16). Insiders own 1.03% of the company's stock.

Whitbread Stock Performance

Shares of LON WTB traded down GBX 6 ($0.08) during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting GBX 2,823 ($38.77). The company had a trading volume of 502,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,035,813. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 33.18, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The business's 50-day simple moving average is GBX 2,771.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is GBX 2,732.36. Whitbread has a 12 month low of GBX 2,253 ($30.94) and a 12 month high of GBX 3,352 ($46.03). The firm has a market cap of £5.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.83, a PEG ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 1.11.

Whitbread (LON:WTB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported GBX 194.60 ($2.67) EPS for the quarter. Whitbread had a return on equity of 6.83% and a net margin of 8.08%. As a group, analysts predict that Whitbread will post 227.1851852 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Whitbread announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase 0 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.