TD Securities Raises George Weston (TSE:WN) Price Target to C$227.00

George Weston (TSE:WN) had its target price hoisted by TD Securities from C$226.00 to C$227.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. TD Securities currently has a buy rating on the stock.

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

George Weston Price Performance

WN stock opened at C$188.98 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of C$181.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$170.91. The stock has a market cap of C$25.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. George Weston has a 1 year low of C$144.41 and a 1 year high of C$194.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 158.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

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

George Weston Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This is a positive change from George Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis 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 Activity

In other news, Senior Officer Andrew Michael Bunston sold 1,606 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$181.51, for a total transaction of C$291,506.51. In other George Weston news, Senior Officer Andrew Michael Bunston sold 1,606 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$181.51, for a total value of C$291,506.51. Also, Director Willard Galen Garfield Weston sold 79,200 shares of George Weston stock in a transaction that occurred 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 151,008 shares of company stock worth $24,350,724. 58.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.