George Weston (TSE:WN) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Shares of George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as C$240.49 and last traded at C$240.03, with a volume of 25053 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$236.66.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. CIBC cut their price objective on shares of George Weston from C$269.00 to C$268.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of George Weston from C$266.00 to C$264.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Desjardins decreased their price objective on George Weston from C$255.00 to C$251.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Scotiabank cut George Weston from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from C$240.00 to C$241.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$251.42.

George Weston Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of C$31.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.05, a P/E/G ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 372.50. The company’s fifty day moving average is C$226.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$225.37.

Insider Activity

In other George Weston news, Senior Officer Rashid Wasti sold 250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$231.30, for a total transaction of C$57,825.00. Also, Director Willard Galen Garfield Weston sold 57,463 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$231.03, for a total transaction of C$13,275,441.29. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 4,000 shares of company stock valued at $90,780 and sold 77,461 shares valued at $17,949,441. Insiders own 59.41% of the company’s stock.

About George Weston

George Weston is a holding company that operates through two subsidiaries encompassing retail and real estate. The first is Loblaw, the largest grocer in Canada, in which it has a 53% controlling stake. The second is Choice Properties, an open-ended real estate investment trust, where George Weston’s ownership sits close to 62%.