North West (TSE:NWC) Reaches New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

The North West Company Inc. (TSE:NWC) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as C$53.06 and last traded at C$52.89, with a volume of 4593 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$52.73.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NWC has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on North West from C$40.00 to C$47.00 in a report on Friday, September 6th. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of North West from C$52.00 to C$59.00 in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of North West from C$44.00 to C$56.00 in a research report on Friday, September 6th.

North West Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of C$2.49 billion, a PE ratio of 19.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is C$48.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$43.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 60.00, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 2.22.

North West (TSE:NWC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported C$0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$0.71 by C$0.02. North West had a net margin of 5.25% and a return on equity of 19.76%. The business had revenue of C$646.49 million for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts predict that The North West Company Inc. will post 3.4924863 earnings per share for the current year.

North West Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. This is a positive change from North West’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. North West’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at North West

In related news, Senior Officer Michael Beaulieu sold 3,522 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$50.78, for a total transaction of C$178,847.16. In other news, Senior Officer David Michael Chatyrbok sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$51.65, for a total value of C$154,950.00. Also, Senior Officer Michael Beaulieu sold 3,522 shares of North West stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$50.78, for a total value of C$178,847.16. Insiders sold 20,030 shares of company stock worth $1,038,687 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About North West

The North West Company Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the retail of food and everyday products and services to rural communities and urban neighborhood markets in northern Canada, rural Alaska, the South Pacific, and the Caribbean. The company operates Northern stores, which offers food, financial services, and general merchandise; NorthMart stores that provides fresh food products, apparel, and health products and services; and Quickstop convenience stores that provides ready-to-eat food products, and fuel and related services.