George Weston Limited to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.82 (TSE:WN)

George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 30th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.82 per share on Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th.

George Weston Stock Performance

Shares of TSE WN opened at C$212.90 on Wednesday. George Weston has a 12-month low of C$144.41 and a 12-month high of C$217.28. The company has a market cap of C$28.48 billion, a PE ratio of 22.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of C$199.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$186.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 159.31.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WN shares. 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, May 8th. Scotiabank increased 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. TD Securities lowered their price target on George Weston from C$246.00 to C$242.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Desjardins upped their price objective on George Weston from C$205.00 to C$212.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, CIBC raised their target price on George Weston from C$222.00 to C$235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$219.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, Senior Officer Rashid Wasti sold 1,307 shares of the stock in a transaction 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. In other news, Senior Officer Richard Dufresne sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$195.75, for a total value of C$978,756.00. Also, Senior Officer Rashid Wasti sold 1,307 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$193.25, for a total value of C$252,577.75. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 26,307 shares of company stock worth $5,071,972. 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.