Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Given New C$95.00 Price Target at National Bank Financial

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) had its price objective lifted by equities researchers at National Bank Financial from C$93.00 to C$95.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector perform” rating on the stock. National Bank Financial’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 4.50% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Scotia boosted their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$78.00 to C$83.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective 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. Desjardins boosted their price objective on shares of 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. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$73.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, TD raised their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$80.00 to C$98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$88.55.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

Shares of TSE GWO traded down C$0.99 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching C$90.91. 725,453 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,621,602. The company has a current ratio of 6.57, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.59. Great-West Lifeco has a 1 year low of C$51.60 and a 1 year high of C$93.69. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of C$86.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$73.76. The stock has a market cap of C$81.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.55, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.67.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported C$1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$8.35 billion for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a return on equity of 15.17% and a net margin of 12.86%. On average, research analysts forecast that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Great-West Lifeco

In other Great-West Lifeco news, insider Jean-Francois Poulin sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$89.55, for a total value of C$1,791,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 160 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$14,328. This represents a 99.21% decrease in their position. Also, Director Edmund Francis Murphy sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$86.20, for a total transaction of C$3,448,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,784 shares in the company, valued at C$757,180.80. This represents a 81.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. In the last quarter, insiders sold 119,200 shares of company stock valued at $9,821,888. 70.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.