Jean-Francois Poulin Sells 19,800 Shares of Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Stock

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) insider Jean-Francois Poulin sold 19,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$79.57, for a total value of C$1,575,486.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$12,731.20. This represents a 99.20% decrease in their position.

Great-West Lifeco Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of TSE:GWO opened at C$79.50 on Wednesday. Great-West Lifeco Inc. has a 12-month low of C$49.78 and a 12-month high of C$79.96. The stock has a market cap of C$71.39 billion, a PE ratio of 17.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50 day moving average of C$70.54 and a 200-day moving average of C$66.59. The company has a quick ratio of 22.18, a current ratio of 6.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.59.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$8.37 billion during the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 15.17%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Great-West Lifeco Inc. will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 3rd. This is a boost from Great-West Lifeco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$75.00 to C$81.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. TD boosted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$73.00 to C$80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. National Bank Financial boosted their price target on 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. Desjardins boosted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$71.00 to C$80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$83.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$77.18.

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.