George Weston (TSE:WN) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

George Weston Limited (TSE:WN) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as C$239.81 and last traded at C$239.45, with a volume of 47588 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$238.05.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WN. TD Securities boosted their target price on George Weston from C$242.00 to C$263.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Desjardins dropped their price objective on George Weston from C$255.00 to C$251.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Scotiabank cut George Weston from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from C$240.00 to C$241.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of George Weston from C$266.00 to C$264.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, CIBC reduced their price objective on shares of George Weston from C$269.00 to C$268.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$251.42.

George Weston Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is C$224.54 and its 200-day moving average price is C$224.52. The company has a market capitalization of C$29.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.18, a P/E/G ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 372.50, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Willard Galen Garfield Weston sold 57,463 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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. Also, Senior Officer Richard Dufresne sold 10,000 shares of George Weston stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$230.80, for a total value of C$2,308,031.00. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 75,961 shares of company stock valued at $17,596,041. 59.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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%.