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

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as C$68.24 and last traded at C$68.02, with a volume of 157059 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$67.10.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GWO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Desjardins lifted their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$55.00 to C$60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. UBS Group raised shares of Great-West Lifeco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. National Bankshares boosted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$58.00 to C$59.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. TD Securities increased their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$53.00 to C$60.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$62.11.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Up 1.0%

The business’s fifty day moving average is C$63.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$57.54. The firm has a market cap of C$61.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.72.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported C$1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$8.21 billion during the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a return on equity of 14.81% and a net margin of 16.06%. Research analysts forecast that Great-West Lifeco Inc. will post 4.4525194 EPS for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 3rd. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio is 55.34%.

Insider Activity at Great-West Lifeco

In other news, Director Edmund Francis Murphy sold 94,532 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$64.51, for a total transaction of C$6,098,259.32. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,916 shares in the company, valued at C$317,131.16. The trade was a 95.06% decrease in their position. 70.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.