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

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

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. CIBC upped their target price on George Weston from C$213.00 to C$222.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of George Weston from C$216.00 to C$218.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, TD Securities raised their price target on shares of George Weston from C$205.00 to C$215.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of C$208.50.

George Weston Stock Up 1.8 %

George Weston stock opened at C$188.83 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of C$25.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 158.23, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.24. George Weston has a fifty-two week low of C$144.41 and a fifty-two week high of C$188.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average is C$180.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$170.35.

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

George Weston Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.713 dividend. This represents a $2.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. George Weston’s payout ratio is 26.49%.

Insider Activity

In other George Weston news, Senior Officer Richard Dufresne sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 related news, Senior Officer Andrew Michael Bunston sold 2,303 shares of George Weston stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$183.27, for a total transaction of C$422,079.10. Also, Senior Officer Richard Dufresne sold 10,000 shares of the 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 a total of 151,008 shares of company stock valued at $24,350,724 in the last 90 days. 58.21% of the stock is currently owned by 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.