George Weston (TSE:WN) Hits New 1-Year High at $200.12

Shares of George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as C$200.12 and last traded at C$199.19, with a volume of 50194 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$196.79.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on WN shares. TD Securities boosted their price target on George Weston from C$226.00 to C$227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on George Weston from C$200.00 to C$212.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. CIBC lifted their target price on George Weston from C$222.00 to C$235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on George Weston from C$185.00 to C$196.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Desjardins lifted their target price on George Weston from C$205.00 to C$212.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, George Weston currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$216.67.

George Weston Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of C$27.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.62, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 159.31, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a fifty day moving average price of C$191.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$180.04.

George Weston (TSE:WN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported C$2.30 EPS for the quarter. George Weston had a return on equity of 18.50% and a net margin of 2.22%. The business had revenue of C$13.74 billion for the quarter. Equities analysts forecast that George Weston Limited will post 12.1466667 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

George Weston Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Saturday, June 15th were issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This is a boost from George Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. George Weston’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.64%.

Insider Activity at George Weston

In related news, Senior Officer Richard Dufresne sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$190.21, for a total value of C$951,043.50. In other George Weston news, Senior Officer Rashid Wasti sold 1,307 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$193.25, for a total value of C$252,577.75. Also, Senior Officer Richard Dufresne sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$190.21, for a total value of C$951,043.50. Insiders have sold 26,307 shares of company stock worth $5,071,972 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 58.49% of the company’s stock.

About George Weston

George Weston Limited provides food and drug retailing, and financial services in Canada. The company operates through two segments, Loblaw Companies Limited (Loblaw) and Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (Choice Properties). The Loblaw segment provides grocery, pharmacy and healthcare services, health and beauty products, apparel, general merchandise, and financial services.