George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$216.67.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of George Weston from C$226.00 to C$227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Desjardins raised their price target on George Weston from C$205.00 to C$212.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on George Weston from C$216.00 to C$218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Scotiabank raised their target price on George Weston from C$200.00 to C$212.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of George Weston from C$185.00 to C$196.00 in a research report on Wednesday.

George Weston Stock Down 0.8 %

TSE WN opened at C$188.98 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of C$25.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. George Weston has a 52 week low of C$144.41 and a 52 week high of C$194.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 158.23, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average of C$181.46 and a 200-day moving average of C$170.91.

George Weston (TSE:WN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported C$2.51 EPS for the quarter. George Weston had a return on equity of 19.71% and a net margin of 2.56%. The firm had revenue of C$14.70 billion during the quarter. On average, equities research analysts forecast that George Weston will post 11.8758003 EPS for the current year.

George Weston Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is an increase from George Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. George Weston’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other George Weston news, Senior Officer Rashid Wasti sold 1,086 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$176.24, for a total transaction of C$191,393.60. In related news, Senior Officer Andrew Michael Bunston sold 2,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$183.27, for a total transaction of C$422,079.10. Also, Senior Officer Rashid Wasti sold 1,086 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$176.24, for a total value of C$191,393.60. Insiders have sold a total of 151,008 shares of company stock worth $24,350,724 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 58.21% of the company’s stock.

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.