George Weston (TSE:WN) Sets New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after TD Securities raised their price target on the stock from C$226.00 to C$227.00. TD Securities currently has a buy rating on the stock. George Weston traded as high as C$188.08 and last traded at C$188.27, with a volume of 51039 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$185.50.

WN has been the subject of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of George Weston from C$172.00 to C$185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of George Weston from C$200.00 to C$212.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. CIBC increased their price objective 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, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on George Weston from C$216.00 to C$218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$208.50.

Insider Activity

In other 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. In related news, Senior Officer Rashid Wasti sold 1,086 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$176.24, for a total transaction of C$191,393.60. Also, Senior Officer Andrew Michael Bunston sold 2,303 shares of the company’s 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 transaction of C$422,079.10. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 151,008 shares of company stock valued at $24,350,724. Company insiders own 58.21% of the company’s stock.

George Weston Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 158.23. The firm has a market capitalization of C$25.18 billion, a PE ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is C$181.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$170.65.

George Weston (TSE:WN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported C$2.51 earnings per share (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 expect that George Weston Limited will post 11.8758003 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

George Weston Dividend Announcement

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