Analysts Set Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) PT at C$77.18

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$77.18.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GWO. Scotia boosted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$78.00 to C$83.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$64.00 to C$77.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$83.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$75.00 to C$81.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, National Bank Financial boosted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$65.00 to C$73.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Great-West Lifeco

In related news, Director Edmund Francis Murphy sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$86.20, for a total transaction of C$3,448,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$757,180.80. This represents a 81.99% decrease in their position. Also, 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 shares were sold at an average price of C$63.46, for a total transaction of C$2,945,368.98. Insiders sold 165,613 shares of company stock worth $12,767,257 in the last quarter. 70.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

GWO opened at C$88.89 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of C$78.25 and a 200-day moving average of C$69.61. The company has a market capitalization of C$79.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.12, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.69. Great-West Lifeco has a 1-year low of C$49.92 and a 1-year high of C$90.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.59, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a current ratio of 6.57.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$1.37 earnings per share 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%. Equities analysts expect that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Great-West Lifeco’s payout ratio is presently 53.76%.

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.