Brokerages Set Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) Target Price at C$64.33

Shares of Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$64.33.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$73.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$70.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a C$60.00 price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 19th. UBS Group raised shares of Great-West Lifeco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$60.00 to C$66.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Down 0.1%

GWO opened at C$64.52 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is C$65.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$59.18. The company has a market capitalization of C$58.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.97, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.72. Great-West Lifeco has a 52 week low of C$44.89 and a 52 week high of C$68.56.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported C$1.33 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$8.21 billion during the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a return on equity of 14.81% and a net margin of 16.06%. Equities analysts anticipate that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 3rd. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio is 55.34%.

Insider Transactions at Great-West Lifeco

In other Great-West Lifeco news, Director Edmund Francis Murphy sold 94,532 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$64.51, for a total value of C$6,098,259.32. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,916 shares in the company, valued at C$317,131.16. The trade was a 95.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 70.70% of the stock is owned by company 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.