Analysts Set George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) Target Price at C$229.67

Shares of George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$229.67.

Several research firms have issued reports on WN. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on George Weston from C$196.00 to C$220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Desjardins lifted their target price on George Weston from C$212.00 to C$232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. CIBC lifted their target price on 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. Finally, TD Securities decreased their target price on George Weston from C$246.00 to C$242.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Senior Officer Richard Dufresne sold 4,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$226.89, for a total value of C$998,326.12. In other news, Senior Officer Richard Dufresne sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$226.89, for a total value of C$998,326.12. Also, Senior Officer Rashid Wasti bought 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of C$21.34 per share, with a total value of C$32,010.00. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 8,400 shares of company stock worth $180,778 and sold 57,719 shares worth $12,951,952. 59.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

George Weston Stock Performance

Shares of TSE:WN opened at C$219.60 on Monday. The company has a market cap of C$29.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.70, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 171.94, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.35. George Weston has a one year low of C$144.41 and a one year high of C$229.22. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is C$218.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$200.66.

George Weston (TSE:WN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported C$2.93 EPS for the quarter. George Weston had a return on equity of 17.52% and a net margin of 2.06%. The business had revenue of C$14.09 billion for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that George Weston will post 13.0134582 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

George Weston Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. George Weston’s payout ratio is 36.90%.

About George Weston

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.