Hemant Patel Sells 2,607 Shares of Whitbread plc (LON:WTB) Stock

Whitbread plc (LON:WTB) insider Hemant Patel sold 2,607 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 2,790 ($37.66), for a total value of £72,735.30 ($98,171.55).

Whitbread Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of WTB stock opened at GBX 2,838 ($38.30) on Friday. Whitbread plc has a 52-week low of GBX 2,253 ($30.41) and a 52-week high of GBX 3,352 ($45.24). The stock has a market cap of £5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.95, a PEG ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50-day moving average is GBX 2,625.11 and its 200-day moving average is GBX 2,748.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 33.18, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Whitbread (LON:WTB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported GBX 194.60 ($2.63) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Whitbread had a return on equity of 6.83% and a net margin of 8.08%. Sell-side analysts predict that Whitbread plc will post 227.1851852 EPS for the current year.

Whitbread declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback 0 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on WTB shares. Citigroup dropped their target price on Whitbread from GBX 3,700 ($49.94) to GBX 3,300 ($44.54) and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Shore Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Whitbread to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Whitbread has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of GBX 2,860 ($38.60).

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.