Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$67.22.

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$67.00 to C$73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$70.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Great-West Lifeco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from C$67.00 to C$70.00 in a research note on Friday, February 13th. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$73.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$60.00 to C$64.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider L.P. Great-West Lifeco U.S. Holdings sold 46,413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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. 70.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Up 1.1%

GWO stock opened at C$66.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.93, a current ratio of 5.80 and a quick ratio of 22.18. Great-West Lifeco has a 1-year low of C$49.54 and a 1-year high of C$68.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of C$63.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$62.90. The firm has a market cap of C$60.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.68, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.57.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported C$1.36 earnings per share for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 10.96% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The firm had revenue of C$8.34 billion during the quarter. Research analysts predict that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 EPS for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. 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 4.0%. Great-West Lifeco’s payout ratio is presently 57.28%.

Great-West Lifeco Company Profile

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.