Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for Whitbread (LON:WTB) Stock Price

Whitbread (LON:WTB) had its price target raised by analysts at Citigroup from GBX 3,100 to GBX 3,300 in a research report issued on Thursday,London Stock Exchange reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s price target suggests a potential upside of 18.64% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Whitbread to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from GBX 3,375 to GBX 2,815 in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Shore Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Whitbread in a report on Thursday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Whitbread from GBX 2,900 to GBX 2,450 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Berenberg Bank lowered their price target on Whitbread from GBX 3,500 to GBX 2,900 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Peel Hunt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 3,500 price objective on shares of Whitbread in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of GBX 3,110.83.

Whitbread Stock Down 0.4%

LON:WTB traded down GBX 11.44 on Thursday, reaching GBX 2,781.56. 1,610,166 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,289,388. 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 capitalization of £4.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.44, a PEG ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 1.11. Whitbread has a 12 month low of GBX 2,253 and a 12 month high of GBX 3,302. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is GBX 2,600.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 2,923.92.

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

Insider Transactions at Whitbread

In other news, insider Richard Gillingwater purchased 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 21st. The shares were acquired at an average price of GBX 2,974 per share, with a total value of £14,870. Also, insider Christine Mary Hodgson purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 2,880 per share, with a total value of £288,000. 0.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.