Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) Receives C$77.18 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$80.73.

A number of brokerages have commented on GWO. Scotia increased 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 boosted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$83.00 to C$95.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$64.00 to C$77.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$81.00 to C$95.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, National Bank Financial lifted their price objective on 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.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

GWO stock opened at C$92.82 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is C$84.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$72.56. The firm has a market capitalization of C$83.36 billion, a PE ratio of 19.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.67. Great-West Lifeco has a 12 month low of C$51.60 and a 12 month high of C$93.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.59, a current ratio of 6.57 and a quick ratio of 22.18.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$1.37 earnings per share for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 15.17%. The business had revenue of C$8.37 billion during the quarter. Equities analysts expect that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 2nd. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.76%.

Insider Transactions at Great-West Lifeco

In other news, insider Jean-Francois Poulin sold 20,000 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$89.55, for a total transaction of C$1,791,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 160 shares in the company, valued at C$14,328. The trade was a 99.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, Director Edmund Francis Murphy sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director directly owned 8,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$757,180.80. This represents a 81.99% decrease in their position. Insiders sold a total of 119,200 shares of company stock worth $9,821,888 over the last ninety days. 70.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.