Analysts Set Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) Target Price at C$67.22

Shares of Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is C$67.22.

A number of brokerages have commented on GWO. Barclays increased their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$70.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Great-West Lifeco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from C$67.00 to C$70.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$68.00 to C$66.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$67.00 to C$73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$60.00 to C$64.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th.

Insider Activity at Great-West Lifeco

In other Great-West Lifeco news, insider L.P. Great-West Lifeco U.S. Holdings sold 46,413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. 70.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

Shares of GWO stock opened at C$66.04 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of C$59.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s 50 day moving average is C$63.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$62.79. The company has a current ratio of 5.80, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.93. Great-West Lifeco has a 12-month low of C$49.54 and a 12-month high of C$68.56.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported C$1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$8.34 billion for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 10.96%. Analysts expect that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Great-West Lifeco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 3rd. This is an increase from Great-West Lifeco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Great-West Lifeco’s payout ratio is currently 57.28%.

Great-West Lifeco Company Profile

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.