Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as C$62.81 and last traded at C$62.72, with a volume of 1228003 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$62.55.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. National Bankshares upped their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$58.00 to C$59.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$58.00 to C$59.00 in a report on Thursday, November 6th. TD Securities lifted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$66.00 to C$70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. UBS Group raised Great-West Lifeco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$62.11.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Up 0.1%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of C$57.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$54.29. The company has a market capitalization of C$57.94 billion, a PE ratio of 14.61, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.63.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported C$1.25 earnings per share for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 16.06% and a return on equity of 14.81%. The company had revenue of C$18.92 billion during the quarter. Equities analysts predict that Great-West Lifeco Inc. will post 4.4525194 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 29th were paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.34%.

Great-West Lifeco announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, August 5th that permits the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.