Royal Bank of Canada Increases Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Price Target to C$45.00

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) had its price objective boosted by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from C$44.00 to C$45.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, BayStreet.CA reports. The firm presently has a “sector perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective points to a potential upside of 6.56% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Scotiabank upped their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$42.00 to C$44.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. National Bankshares increased their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$42.00 to C$43.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$44.00 to C$46.00 in a report on Friday. TD Securities dropped their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$44.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, CIBC increased their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$44.00 to C$46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Great-West Lifeco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$43.60.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

Shares of TSE:GWO opened at C$42.23 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of C$41.95 and a 200 day moving average price of C$42.23. Great-West Lifeco has a twelve month low of C$37.06 and a twelve month high of C$45.18. The company has a market cap of C$39.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.41, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 22.18, a current ratio of 12.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.33.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported C$1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$0.99 by C$0.05. Great-West Lifeco had a return on equity of 10.28% and a net margin of 7.95%. The firm had revenue of C$20.21 billion during the quarter. Research analysts predict that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.137561 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Senior Officer Linda Kerrigan sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$42.95, for a total transaction of C$214,750.00. In other Great-West Lifeco news, Senior Officer Linda Kerrigan sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$42.95, for a total value of C$214,750.00. Also, Senior Officer Bradley John Fedorchuk sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$42.44, for a total value of C$123,062.08. Insiders have sold a total of 13,300 shares of company stock worth $566,402 in the last three months. Insiders own 70.57% of the company’s stock.

About Great-West Lifeco

Great-West Lifeco Inc engages in the life and health insurance, retirement and investment services, asset management, and reinsurance businesses in Canada, the United States, and Europe. The company offers life, accidental death and dismemberment, disability, critical illness, health and dental protection, and creditor insurance products; and retirement and wealth savings, income and annuity products, and other specialty products to individuals, families, businesses, and organizations.