Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Issues Earnings Results

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported C$1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of C$8.37 billion during the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 10.96% and a return on equity of 13.98%.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

Shares of GWO opened at C$76.36 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 5.80, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.93. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is C$66.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$64.86. Great-West Lifeco has a 12 month low of C$49.54 and a 12 month high of C$76.54. The stock has a market capitalization of C$69.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.59.

Great-West Lifeco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 3rd. This is a positive change from Great-West Lifeco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GWO. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$67.00 to C$73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. TD Securities raised their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$73.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$60.00 to C$64.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays upped their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$73.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, National Bank Financial set a C$65.00 price target on Great-West Lifeco and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Great-West Lifeco currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$72.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Great-West Lifeco

In other news, insider L.P. Great-West Lifeco U.S. Holdings sold 46,413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$63.46, for a total value of C$2,945,368.98. 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.