George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$208.50.

WN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Scotiabank raised their price target on George Weston from C$200.00 to C$212.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of George Weston from C$216.00 to C$218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on George Weston from C$172.00 to C$185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. CIBC increased their target price on George Weston from C$213.00 to C$222.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their price target on George Weston from C$226.00 to C$227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday.

Insider Activity

In other George Weston news, Senior Officer Andrew Michael Bunston sold 2,303 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$183.27, for a total value of C$422,079.10. In related news, Senior Officer Andrew Michael Bunston sold 2,303 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$183.27, for a total value of C$422,079.10. Also, Senior Officer Richard Dufresne sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$181.41, for a total value of C$1,814,055.00. In the last three months, insiders sold 151,008 shares of company stock valued at $24,350,724. Company insiders own 58.21% of the company’s stock.

George Weston Price Performance

Shares of WN opened at C$187.33 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of C$25.18 billion, a PE ratio of 17.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50 day moving average is C$181.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$170.65. George Weston has a twelve month low of C$144.41 and a twelve month high of C$190.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 158.23.

George Weston (TSE:WN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported C$2.51 EPS for the quarter. George Weston had a net margin of 2.56% and a return on equity of 19.71%. The firm had revenue of C$14.70 billion during the quarter. Research analysts anticipate that George Weston will post 11.8758003 earnings per share for the current year.

George Weston Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.713 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. George Weston’s payout ratio is 26.49%.

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.