Analyst James Wheatcroft from Jefferies maintained a Buy rating on J D Wetherspoon and keeping the price target at p840.00.
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James Wheatcroft has given his Buy rating due to a combination of factors, notably Wetherspoon’s continued outperformance of the broader pub market and its ability to keep winning market share through like‑for‑like sales growth ahead of peers. He acknowledges that rising costs are pressuring margins and that management now guides to profits coming in slightly under current consensus, but he expects judicious price increases to largely counterbalance this cost inflation over time.
He also highlights management’s decision to accelerate new site openings as a strong signal of confidence in the business model and long‑term demand for its value‑focused proposition. In his view, the shares trade on an attractive valuation multiple relative to their own history, offering a solid free‑cash‑flow yield, and while macro worries about the U.K. consumer and further cost headwinds may cap near‑term multiple expansion, the combination of resilient trading, market share gains, and undemanding valuation underpins his Buy recommendation.
In another report released today, TipRanks – PerPlexity also upgraded the stock to a Buy with a p704.00 price target.
Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 34 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is negative on the stock. This means that over the past quarter there has been an increase of insiders selling their shares of JDW in relation to earlier this year.