George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of George Weston Limited (TSE:WN - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$201.00.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WN shares. CIBC raised their price target on George Weston from C$213.00 to C$222.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on George Weston from C$216.00 to C$218.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. TD Securities raised their price target on George Weston from C$205.00 to C$215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on 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.

George Weston Price Performance

George Weston stock traded up C$0.15 during midday trading on Monday, reaching C$179.01. 83,729 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 108,006. The stock's fifty day moving average is C$177.94 and its 200-day moving average is C$166.09. George Weston has a 12 month low of C$144.41 and a 12 month high of C$187.93. The stock has a market cap of C$24.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.65, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 158.23.

George Weston (TSE:WN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported C$2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$14.70 billion during the quarter. George Weston had a return on equity of 19.71% and a net margin of 2.56%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that George Weston will post 11.876494 EPS for the current year.

George Weston Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.713 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.85 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. George Weston's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.51%.

Insider Activity at George Weston

In other news, Senior Officer Richard Dufresne sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$181.41, for a total value of C$1,814,055.00. In related news, Senior Officer Richard Dufresne sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$181.41, for a total value of C$1,814,055.00. Also, Senior Officer Rashid Wasti sold 1,086 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$176.24, for a total value of C$191,393.60. Insiders sold a total of 151,008 shares of company stock worth $24,350,724 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 58.56% of the company's stock.

George Weston Company Profile

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.