Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four 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 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$93.27.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$95.00 to C$100.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$84.00 to C$107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. TD increased their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$98.00 to C$106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. National Bank Financial raised their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$93.00 to C$95.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$86.00 to C$87.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

TSE GWO opened at C$92.59 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is C$91.30 and its 200-day moving average price is C$79.28. Great-West Lifeco has a fifty-two week low of C$52.51 and a fifty-two week high of C$94.10. The company has a market cap of C$82.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.63, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a current ratio of 6.07.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported C$1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$8.35 billion during the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a return on equity of 15.48% and a net margin of 12.49%. Sell-side analysts predict that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 29th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Great-West Lifeco

In other news, Director Edmund Francis Murphy sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$86.20, for a total value of C$3,448,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$757,180.80. This represents a 81.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Jean-Francois Poulin sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$89.55, for a total transaction of C$1,791,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 160 shares in the company, valued at C$14,328. This represents a 99.21% decrease in their position. 70.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.