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

Whitbread plc (LON:WTB) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is GBX 2,860 ($38.05).

WTB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Shore Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Whitbread in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Whitbread to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Whitbread from GBX 3,700 ($49.22) to GBX 3,300 ($43.90) and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Kal Atwal purchased 1,130 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 2,621 ($34.87) per share, for a total transaction of £29,617.30 ($39,400.43). Corporate insiders own 1.03% of the company’s stock.

Whitbread Stock Performance

WTB stock opened at GBX 2,810 ($37.38) on Friday. The firm has a market cap of £5.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.73, a P/E/G ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is GBX 2,544.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 2,786.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 33.18. Whitbread has a 12-month low of GBX 2,253 ($29.97) and a 12-month high of GBX 3,352 ($44.59).

Whitbread (LON:WTB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported GBX 194.60 ($2.59) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Whitbread had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 6.83%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Whitbread will post 227.1851852 EPS for the current year.

Whitbread announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback 0 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.