Ben Whitley Buys 25 Shares of J D Wetherspoon plc (LON:JDW) Stock

J D Wetherspoon plc (LON:JDW) insider Ben Whitley purchased 25 shares of J D Wetherspoon stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of GBX 606 ($7.57) per share, for a total transaction of £151.50 ($189.35).

Ben Whitley also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, November 21st, Ben Whitley bought 25 shares of J D Wetherspoon stock. The shares were acquired at an average price of GBX 604 ($7.55) per share, for a total transaction of £151 ($188.73).
• On Monday, October 21st, Ben Whitley purchased 21 shares of J D Wetherspoon stock. The stock was acquired at an average price of GBX 718 ($8.97) per share, with a total value of £150.78 ($188.45).

J D Wetherspoon Price Performance

Shares of JDW opened at GBX 607 ($7.59) on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 284.38, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.19. The company’s fifty day moving average price is GBX 642.23 and its 200-day moving average price is GBX 705.97. J D Wetherspoon plc has a 1-year low of GBX 590 ($7.37) and a 1-year high of GBX 862.50 ($10.78). The firm has a market capitalization of £750.37 million, a PE ratio of 1,556.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.34.

J D Wetherspoon Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 24th were paid a dividend of GBX 12 ($0.15) per share. This represents a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 24th. This is an increase from J D Wetherspoon’s previous dividend of $8.00. J D Wetherspoon’s payout ratio is presently 3,076.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Shore Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of J D Wetherspoon in a research note on Friday, October 4th.

About J D Wetherspoon

J D Wetherspoon plc owns and operates pubs and hotels in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 and is based in Watford, the United Kingdom.