George Weston (TSE:WN) Reaches New 1-Year High at $210.44

George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as C$210.44 and last traded at C$209.45, with a volume of 12311 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$208.49.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Securities increased their target price on George Weston from C$226.00 to C$227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on George Weston from C$185.00 to C$196.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. CIBC upped their target price on George Weston from C$222.00 to C$235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Desjardins increased their price target on shares of George Weston from C$205.00 to C$212.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$216.67.

George Weston Stock Up 0.1 %

The company has a market cap of C$27.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.02, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 159.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of C$194.71 and a 200 day moving average price of C$182.59.

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

George Weston Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Saturday, June 15th were given a $0.82 dividend. 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 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. George Weston’s payout ratio is currently 34.64%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Senior Officer Rashid Wasti sold 1,307 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$193.25, for a total transaction of C$252,577.75. In other George Weston news, Senior Officer Richard Dufresne sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$195.75, for a total transaction of C$978,756.00. Also, Senior Officer Rashid Wasti sold 1,307 shares of George Weston 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. Insiders have sold a total of 26,307 shares of company stock worth $5,071,972 over the last three months. Corporate 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.