George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) Receives C$229.67 Average PT from Brokerages

George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$229.67.

Several research analysts have recently commented on WN shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on George Weston from C$196.00 to C$220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Securities lowered their target price on George Weston from C$246.00 to C$242.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Desjardins lifted their target price on George Weston from C$212.00 to C$232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, CIBC increased their price target on shares of George Weston from C$235.00 to C$254.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st.

George Weston Price Performance

George Weston stock opened at C$223.49 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 171.94. The company has a 50-day moving average price of C$218.29 and a 200 day moving average price of C$200.37. George Weston has a 12-month low of C$144.41 and a 12-month high of C$229.22. The stock has a market cap of C$29.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.14, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42.

George Weston (TSE:WN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported C$2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. George Weston had a return on equity of 17.52% and a net margin of 2.06%. The company had revenue of C$14.09 billion during the quarter. Sell-side analysts anticipate that George Weston will post 13.0828367 earnings per share for the current year.

George Weston Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. George Weston’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other George Weston news, Director Willard Galen Garfield Weston sold 154 shares of George Weston stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$207.04, for a total transaction of C$31,884.16. In other George Weston news, Senior Officer Rashid Wasti bought 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of C$21.34 per share, for a total transaction of C$32,010.00. Also, Director Willard Galen Garfield Weston sold 154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$207.04, for a total value of C$31,884.16. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 8,400 shares of company stock valued at $180,778 and have sold 20,854 shares valued at $4,596,828. Corporate insiders own 59.12% 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.