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

George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$229.67.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Desjardins boosted their price target 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. CIBC lifted their price objective on George Weston from C$235.00 to C$254.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Securities lowered their price objective on George Weston from C$246.00 to C$242.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on George Weston from C$196.00 to C$220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Insider Transactions at George Weston

In related news, Director Alannah Elizabeth Weston sold 36,865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$226.64, for a total transaction of C$8,355,124.15. In other George Weston news, Director Alannah Elizabeth Weston sold 36,865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$226.64, for a total value of C$8,355,124.15. Also, 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 transaction of C$998,326.12. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 9,400 shares of company stock worth $202,958 and sold 57,719 shares worth $12,951,952. Insiders own 59.41% of the company’s stock.

George Weston Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is C$221.44 and its 200-day moving average price is C$204.24. The stock has a market capitalization of C$29.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 0.42. George Weston has a twelve month low of C$145.03 and a twelve month high of C$229.22. 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 (TSE:WN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter. As a group, research analysts predict that George Weston will post 13.0245758 EPS for the current year.

George Weston Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of ?. George Weston’s payout ratio is 36.94%.

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.