George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$229.67.

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

George Weston Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 171.94, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average of C$221.44 and a 200-day moving average of C$204.24. The stock has a market capitalization of C$29.09 billion, a PE ratio of 24.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 0.42. George Weston has a 1 year low of C$145.03 and a 1 year high of C$229.22.

George Weston (TSE:WN) last released 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 firm had revenue of C$14.09 billion during the quarter. On average, equities analysts anticipate that George Weston will post 13.0245758 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

George Weston Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 15th were given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of ∞. George Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Willard Galen Garfield Weston sold 154 shares of the company’s 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 value of C$31,884.16. In related news, Director Willard Galen Garfield Weston sold 154 shares of the company’s 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 value of C$31,884.16. Also, Senior Officer Richard Dufresne sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$218.89, for a total value of C$591,000.03. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 9,400 shares of company stock worth $202,958 and sold 57,719 shares worth $12,951,952. Company insiders own 59.41% 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.