Desjardins Equities Analysts Lift Earnings Estimates for George Weston Limited (TSE:WN)

George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) – Stock analysts at Desjardins lifted their FY2025 EPS estimates for George Weston in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, May 8th. Desjardins analyst C. Li now forecasts that the company will earn $13.28 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $13.24. The consensus estimate for George Weston’s current full-year earnings is $11.88 per share.

George Weston (TSE:WN) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of C$14.70 billion for the quarter.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on WN. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of George Weston from C$200.00 to C$212.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on 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. TD Securities upped their price objective on George Weston from C$226.00 to C$227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of George Weston from C$185.00 to C$196.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, CIBC upped their target price on shares of George Weston from C$222.00 to C$235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, George Weston has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$216.67.

George Weston Price Performance

Shares of WN opened at C$190.50 on Thursday. 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 cap of C$25.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. George Weston has a 52 week low of C$144.41 and a 52 week high of C$194.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average of C$181.00 and a 200-day moving average of C$170.65.

Insider Activity at George Weston

In other news, Senior Officer Richard Dufresne sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$181.41, for a total value of C$1,814,055.00. In related news, 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 transaction of C$1,814,055.00. Also, Senior Officer Andrew Michael Bunston sold 2,303 shares of the firm’s 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. Insiders have sold 151,008 shares of company stock worth $24,350,724 over the last quarter. 58.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

George Weston Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. This is an increase from George Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. George Weston’s payout ratio is 26.49%.

George Weston Company Profile

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.