George Weston (TSE:WN) Reaches New 52-Week High - Here's What Happened

George Weston Limited (TSE:WN - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as C$280.06 and last traded at C$278.86, with a volume of 20282 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$276.30.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on WN. Desjardins lifted their target price on shares of George Weston from C$251.00 to C$300.00 in a report on Friday, May 9th. TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of George Weston from C$256.00 to C$308.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. CIBC lifted their price target on shares of George Weston from C$268.00 to C$296.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of George Weston from C$264.00 to C$284.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of George Weston from C$241.00 to C$285.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of C$282.42.

George Weston Stock Performance

The stock's 50-day simple moving average is C$259.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$238.21. The stock has a market cap of C$35.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.39, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Willard Galen Garfield Weston sold 7,248 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$236.64, for a total value of C$1,715,131.20. Also, Senior Officer Rashid Wasti purchased 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of C$21.25 per share, with a total value of C$31,875.00. Insiders have sold a total of 57,228 shares of company stock worth $15,014,239 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 59.41% of the company's stock.

George Weston Company Profile

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%.