George Weston (TSE:WN) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as C$111.49 and last traded at C$110.99, with a volume of 48,275 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$107.99.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce set a C$134.00 price objective on shares of George Weston and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of George Weston from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from C$103.00 to C$113.00 in a report on Monday, July 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, George Weston presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$115.83.

George Weston Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of C$39.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 0.22. The company has a fifty day moving average price of C$101.35 and a 200 day moving average price of C$100.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 438.92, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

George Weston (TSE:WN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported C$1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$15.20 billion for the quarter. George Weston had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 1.59%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that George Weston Limited will post 13.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at George Weston

In other George Weston news, insider Richard Dufresne sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$101.04, for a total value of C$1,010,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 19,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$2,011,807.44. This trade represents a 33.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders sold 70,000 shares of company stock valued at $7,017,600 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 59.41% of the company’s stock.

About George Weston

George Weston is a holding company that operates through two subsidiaries encompassing retail and real estate. The first is Loblaw, the largest grocer in Canada, in which it has a 53% controlling stake. The second is Choice Properties, an open-ended real estate investment trust, where George Weston’s ownership sits close to 62%. The company sold Weston Foods, a North American bakery, in early 2022, which the firm had previously wholly owned. While the two remaining entities are separate, they operate under a contractual, as well as tacit, framework of strategic business partnerships.