Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Price Target Raised to C$107.00

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) had its price objective upped by Jefferies Financial Group from C$84.00 to C$107.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday,BayStreet.CA reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on GWO. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$81.00 to C$95.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$76.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. TD increased their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$73.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$73.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$83.00 to C$95.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Great-West Lifeco presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$86.36.

Great-West Lifeco Trading Down 0.5%

Great-West Lifeco stock opened at C$91.68 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.59, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a current ratio of 6.57. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of C$86.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$73.25. The stock has a market capitalization of C$82.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.67. Great-West Lifeco has a 52 week low of C$51.60 and a 52 week high of C$93.69.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$1.37 earnings per share for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a return on equity of 15.17% and a net margin of 12.86%.The business had revenue of C$8.37 billion for the quarter. Analysts expect that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Edmund Francis Murphy sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$86.20, for a total value of C$3,448,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$757,180.80. The trade was a 81.99% decrease in their position. Also, Director Mei Dong sold 39,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$76.33, for a total value of C$3,007,402.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$207,693.93. This trade represents a 93.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders sold a total of 119,200 shares of company stock worth $9,821,888 in the last three months. Company insiders own 70.70% of the company’s stock.

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.