George Weston (TSE:WN) Sets New 12-Month High at $224.16

George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) shares hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as C$224.16 and last traded at C$223.65, with a volume of 78871 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$222.05.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WN shares. TD Securities cut their price objective on George Weston from C$246.00 to C$242.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. CIBC increased their target price on shares of George Weston from C$235.00 to C$254.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of George Weston from C$196.00 to C$220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Desjardins raised their target price on shares of George Weston from C$212.00 to C$232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, George Weston has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$229.67.

George Weston Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 171.94, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.35. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is C$213.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$195.67. The stock has a market cap of C$29.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42.

George Weston Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. George Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Senior Officer Richard Dufresne sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$218.51, for a total transaction of C$1,092,546.00. In other news, Senior Officer Richard Dufresne sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$218.51, for a total value of C$1,092,546.00. Also, Senior Officer Rashid Wasti sold 3,300 shares of George Weston stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$215.00, for a total value of C$709,500.00. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 6,300 shares of company stock worth $136,049 and have sold 16,454 shares worth $3,598,502. 59.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.