Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) Receives C$77.18 Average Price Target from Analysts

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$77.18.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$83.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. National Bank Financial increased their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$65.00 to C$73.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$76.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$64.00 to C$77.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Desjardins upped their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$71.00 to C$80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

GWO opened at C$89.23 on Thursday. Great-West Lifeco has a fifty-two week low of C$49.92 and a fifty-two week high of C$90.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average of C$77.46 and a 200 day moving average of C$69.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.59, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a current ratio of 6.57. The firm has a market cap of C$80.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.19, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.69.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$1.37 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$8.37 billion for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 15.17%. On average, research analysts expect that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 EPS for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio is 53.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Great-West Lifeco

In other Great-West Lifeco news, Director Edmund Francis Murphy sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$86.20, for a total transaction of C$3,448,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,784 shares in the company, valued at C$757,180.80. This trade represents a 81.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider L.P. Great-West Lifeco U.S. Holdings sold 46,413 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$63.46, for a total transaction of C$2,945,368.98. Insiders have sold 165,613 shares of company stock worth $12,767,257 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 70.70% of the company’s stock.

About Great-West Lifeco

Great-West Lifeco is one of the three big Canadian life insurance firms. With just under half of the firm’s profit and revenue in Canada, Great-West also operates in the U.S. and Europe. In Canada, Great-West provides both individual and group insurance. In the United States, Great-West operates Putnam Investments and defined-contribution recordkeeping firm Empower Retirement. In 2020, Great-West announced it would acquire Personal Capital and MassMutual’s recordkeeping business. In Europe, Great-West offers life insurance, annuities, and reinsurance primarily in the U.K., Ireland, and Germany.