George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.82 Per Share

George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 7th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.82 per share on Monday, July 1st. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This is a boost from George Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71.

George Weston Stock Performance

TSE:WN opened at C$190.50 on Thursday. 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’s 50-day moving average is C$181.00 and its 200-day moving average is C$170.65. George Weston has a 52-week low of C$144.41 and a 52-week high of C$194.02. The company has a market cap of C$25.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Senior Officer Richard Dufresne sold 10,000 shares of George Weston stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$181.41, for a total transaction of C$1,814,055.00. In other George Weston news, Director Willard Galen Garfield Weston sold 79,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$144.88, for a total value of C$11,474,503.92. Also, Senior Officer Richard Dufresne sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$181.41, for a total value of C$1,814,055.00. Insiders sold 151,008 shares of company stock worth $24,350,724 over the last three months. 58.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WN. TD Securities boosted their price objective on George Weston from C$226.00 to C$227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of George Weston from C$185.00 to C$196.00 in a research note on Wednesday. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of George Weston from C$222.00 to C$235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Desjardins raised their price objective on shares of George Weston from C$205.00 to C$212.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of George Weston from C$200.00 to C$212.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$216.67.

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.