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

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the firm, 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 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$77.18.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GWO shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$76.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. National Bank Financial raised their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$65.00 to C$73.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$64.00 to C$77.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$83.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$73.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Great-West Lifeco

In other Great-West Lifeco news, insider Jean-Francois Poulin sold 19,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$79.57, for a total value of C$1,575,486.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 160 shares in the company, valued at C$12,731.20. The trade was a 99.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider L.P. Great-West Lifeco U.S. Holdings sold 46,413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$63.46, for a total transaction of C$2,945,368.98. Insiders have sold a total of 105,613 shares of company stock worth $7,528,257 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 70.70% of the company’s stock.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

Shares of GWO opened at C$79.71 on Friday. Great-West Lifeco has a 1-year low of C$49.78 and a 1-year high of C$79.96. The company has a market cap of C$71.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is C$71.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$66.86. 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 (TSE:GWO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 15.17%. The business had revenue of C$8.37 billion during the quarter. On average, research analysts forecast that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Great-West Lifeco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a $0.67 dividend. This is an increase from Great-West Lifeco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 3rd. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.76%.

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.