George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$216.67.

WN has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of George Weston from C$226.00 to C$227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Desjardins boosted their target price on shares of George Weston from C$205.00 to C$212.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of George Weston from C$200.00 to C$212.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of George Weston from C$216.00 to C$218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, CIBC lifted their price target on shares of George Weston from C$222.00 to C$235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th.

Insider Activity at George Weston

In related news, Senior Officer Richard Dufresne sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$196.94, for a total value of C$984,715.00. In related news, Senior Officer Richard Dufresne sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$196.94, for a total value of C$984,715.00. Also, Senior Officer Rashid Wasti sold 1,307 shares of the business’s 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. Insiders have sold a total of 26,307 shares of company stock worth $5,071,972 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 58.49% of the company’s stock.

George Weston Stock Performance

TSE WN opened at C$195.20 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is C$189.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$178.75. The stock has a market cap of C$26.11 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. George Weston has a fifty-two week low of C$144.41 and a fifty-two week high of C$198.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 159.31, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.25.

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

George Weston Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Saturday, June 15th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This is a positive change from George Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. George Weston’s payout ratio is presently 34.64%.

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.