George Weston (TSE:WN) Reaches New 52-Week High at $200.12

George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as C$200.12 and last traded at C$199.19, with a volume of 50194 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$196.79.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on George Weston from C$185.00 to C$196.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. TD Securities increased their price objective on George Weston from C$226.00 to C$227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. CIBC increased their price objective on George Weston from C$222.00 to C$235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Desjardins increased their price objective on George Weston from C$205.00 to C$212.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on George Weston from C$200.00 to C$212.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$216.67.

George Weston Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 159.31, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of C$27.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of C$191.15 and a 200-day moving average price of C$180.04.

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

George Weston Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Saturday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This is a positive change from George Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. George Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.64%.

Insider Activity at George Weston

In other George Weston news, Senior Officer Richard Dufresne sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$190.49, for a total transaction of C$1,904,880.00. In other news, Senior Officer Richard Dufresne sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$190.49, for a total value of C$1,904,880.00. Also, Senior Officer Rashid Wasti sold 1,307 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$193.25, for a total value of C$252,577.75. Insiders sold a total of 26,307 shares of company stock valued at $5,071,972 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 58.49% 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.