George Weston (TSE:WN) PT Raised to C$212.00

George Weston (TSE:WN) had its price target upped by Scotiabank from C$200.00 to C$212.00 in a report released on Monday, BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on WN. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of George Weston from C$213.00 to C$222.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on George Weston from C$216.00 to C$218.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of George Weston from C$172.00 to C$185.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of George Weston from C$205.00 to C$215.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of C$216.67.

George Weston Trading Down 0.8 %

TSE:WN opened at C$188.98 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of C$25.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. George Weston has a one year low of C$144.41 and a one year 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of C$181.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$170.91.

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

George Weston Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at George Weston

In other news, Senior Officer Andrew Michael Bunston sold 2,303 shares of George Weston stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$183.27, for a total transaction of C$422,079.10. In other news, Director Willard Galen Garfield Weston sold 79,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$144.88, for a total transaction of C$11,474,503.92. Also, Senior Officer Andrew Michael Bunston sold 2,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$183.27, for a total value of C$422,079.10. Insiders sold 151,008 shares of company stock valued at $24,350,724 over the last 90 days. 58.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.