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

George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 7th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be given a dividend of 0.82 per share on Monday, July 1st. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This is a boost from George Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71.

George Weston Trading Up 2.2 %

TSE WN traded up C$4.13 on Wednesday, reaching C$191.46. 60,935 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 108,160. George Weston has a fifty-two week low of C$144.41 and a fifty-two week high of C$194.02. The stock has a market capitalization of C$25.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s fifty day moving average price is C$181.00 and its 200 day moving average price is C$170.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 158.23.

George Weston (TSE:WN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported C$2.51 earnings per share for the quarter. George Weston had a net margin of 2.56% and a return on equity of 19.71%. The firm had revenue of C$14.70 billion for the quarter. Analysts forecast that George Weston will post 11.8758003 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other George Weston news, Director Willard Galen Garfield Weston sold 79,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$144.88, for a total transaction of C$11,474,503.92. In related news, Director Willard Galen Garfield Weston sold 79,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$144.88, for a total value of C$11,474,503.92. Also, Senior Officer Andrew Michael Bunston sold 1,606 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$181.51, for a total transaction of C$291,506.51. In the last quarter, insiders sold 151,008 shares of company stock worth $24,350,724. 58.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WN. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on George Weston from C$216.00 to C$218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. TD Securities boosted their price objective on George Weston from C$226.00 to C$227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Scotiabank raised their target price on George Weston from C$200.00 to C$212.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of George Weston from C$172.00 to C$185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, CIBC raised their price objective on shares of George Weston from C$213.00 to C$222.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$208.50.

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.