George Weston (TSE:WN) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as C$243.39 and last traded at C$242.64, with a volume of 7889 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$239.98.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on WN shares. CIBC cut their price objective on George Weston from C$269.00 to C$268.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Scotiabank cut George Weston from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from C$240.00 to C$241.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Desjardins reduced their price target on shares of George Weston from C$255.00 to C$251.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of George Weston from C$266.00 to C$264.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$251.42.

George Weston Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of C$229.21 and a 200 day moving average price of C$226.22. The stock has a market cap of C$32.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.64, a P/E/G ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 372.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at George Weston

In related news, Senior Officer Richard Dufresne sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$230.80, for a total value of C$2,308,031.00. Also, Director Willard Galen Garfield Weston sold 57,463 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$231.03, for a total value of C$13,275,441.29. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 4,000 shares of company stock valued at $90,780 and have sold 77,461 shares valued at $17,949,441. Insiders own 59.41% of the company’s stock.

George Weston Company Profile

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%.