Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Stock Price Breaks Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO)’s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$83.77 and traded as high as C$87.89. Great-West Lifeco shares last traded at C$87.55, with a volume of 680,445 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GWO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$77.00 to C$91.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$95.00 to C$97.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$86.00 to C$87.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$95.00 to C$100.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$84.00 to C$107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Great-West Lifeco has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$93.27.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of C$79.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.63, a current ratio of 6.07 and a quick ratio of 22.18. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of C$91.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$83.80.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported C$1.42 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$8.35 billion during the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 12.49% and a return on equity of 15.48%. On average, analysts expect that Great-West Lifeco Inc. will post 4.45 EPS for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 29th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.89%.

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.