Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research 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 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$77.18.

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Scotia increased their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$78.00 to C$83.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$73.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Desjardins increased their target price on shares of 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. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$75.00 to C$81.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$83.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

Shares of TSE:GWO opened at C$91.94 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of C$82.57 billion, a PE ratio of 19.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 6.57, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.59. Great-West Lifeco has a 12-month low of C$51.40 and a 12-month high of C$92.97. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is C$82.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$71.70.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$1.37 earnings per share for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a return on equity of 15.17% and a net margin of 12.86%.The firm had revenue of C$8.37 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Edmund Francis Murphy sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$86.20, for a total transaction of C$3,448,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,784 shares in the company, valued at C$757,180.80. The trade was a 81.99% decrease in their position. Also, insider Jean-Francois Poulin sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$89.55, for a total value of C$1,791,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 160 shares in the company, valued at C$14,328. This represents a 99.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders have sold a total of 119,200 shares of company stock worth $9,821,888 in the last ninety days. 70.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.