George Weston (TSE:WN) Reaches New 12-Month High - Here's What Happened

George Weston Limited (TSE:WN - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as C$254.61 and last traded at C$254.77, with a volume of 148456 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$251.96.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WN. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of George Weston from C$264.00 to C$284.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. CIBC decreased their target price on 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. Scotiabank downgraded shares of George Weston from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from C$240.00 to C$241.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Desjardins reduced their price target on shares of George Weston from C$255.00 to C$251.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, George Weston presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of C$254.75.

George Weston Stock Up 0.2 %

The company has a market capitalization of C$33.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 372.50. The business has a 50-day moving average price of C$235.95 and a 200-day moving average price of C$228.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other George Weston news, Senior Officer Rashid Wasti sold 250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$238.75, for a total transaction of C$59,687.50. Also, Senior Officer Richard Dufresne sold 10,000 shares of George Weston stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$230.80, for a total value of C$2,308,031.00. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 4,000 shares of company stock valued at $90,780 and have sold 77,461 shares valued at $17,949,441. 59.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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%.