Whitbread (WTB) Competitors

Whitbread (LON:WTB) and InterContinental Hotels Group (LON:IHG) are both consumer cyclical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, media sentiment, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in WTB or IHG?

55.1% of Whitbread shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.4% of InterContinental Hotels Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Whitbread shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of InterContinental Hotels Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media favor WTB or IHG?

In the previous week, InterContinental Hotels Group had 1 more articles in the media than Whitbread. MarketBeat recorded 3 mentions for InterContinental Hotels Group and 2 mentions for Whitbread. InterContinental Hotels Group's average media sentiment score of 0.82 beat Whitbread's score of 0.30 indicating that InterContinental Hotels Group is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Whitbread	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
InterContinental Hotels Group	1 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher earnings and valuation, WTB or IHG?

InterContinental Hotels Group has higher revenue and earnings than Whitbread. Whitbread is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than InterContinental Hotels Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Whitbread	£2.92B	1.87	£234.46M	£1.41	2,236.84
InterContinental Hotels Group	£5.12B	2.68	£775.45M	£3.85	2,323.38

Is WTB or IHG more profitable?

InterContinental Hotels Group has a net margin of 14.94% compared to Whitbread's net margin of 8.08%. Whitbread's return on equity of 6.83% beat InterContinental Hotels Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Whitbread	8.08%	6.83%	4.28%
InterContinental Hotels Group	14.94%	-30.72%	14.12%

Do analysts prefer WTB or IHG?

Whitbread currently has a consensus target price of GBX 3,650, suggesting a potential upside of 16.06%. InterContinental Hotels Group has a consensus target price of GBX 6,098.75, suggesting a potential downside of 31.87%. Given Whitbread's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Whitbread is more favorable than InterContinental Hotels Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Whitbread	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60
InterContinental Hotels Group	2 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.80

Which has more risk & volatility, WTB or IHG?

Whitbread has a beta of 1.11, suggesting that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, InterContinental Hotels Group has a beta of 0.98, suggesting that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is WTB or IHG a better dividend stock?

Whitbread pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.99 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. InterContinental Hotels Group pays an annual dividend of GBX 1.59 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. Whitbread pays out 70.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. InterContinental Hotels Group pays out 41.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Summary

InterContinental Hotels Group beats Whitbread on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.